CivilLaw.PH is an independent Philippine civil law information and knowledge platform, created to make the Civil Code easier to find, understand and act on.
The site publishes structured explanations of the Civil Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 386) and the statutes, procedural rules, registry practice and Supreme Court doctrine that surround it – property and ownership, succession and inheritance, obligations and contracts, civil liability for damage, civil status, and the remedies and forums through which a private dispute is actually resolved.
CivilLaw.PH is developed and managed by Anton Sheker and Marjo Villarosa. Atty. Alan Joseph Sheker serves as Special Legal Consultant to the network and is identified on this page as part of the site’s professional background.
Our mission
To make Philippine civil law accessible, understandable, traceable and useful.
Civil law reaches almost every Filipino household, usually at the worst possible moment – when a parent dies and the land is still in a grandparent’s name, when a fence turns out to be two metres over the line, when a buyer discovers the title carries an annotation nobody mentioned, when four siblings cannot agree what to do with one house.
The answer to any one of those questions is rarely in a single place. It may sit across the Civil Code, the Property Registration Decree, the Rules of Court, a Supreme Court decision, a registry procedure and a barangay requirement at the same time. CivilLaw.PH organises that material into a connected system rather than a pile of isolated articles.
Why CivilLaw.PH was created
A single property question can involve ownership, possession, registration, co-ownership, succession, prescription, easements and procedure all at once. A person trying to answer it alone usually does not know which of those is the controlling issue, let alone which office hears it.
Take a common one: a neighbour’s wall crosses the boundary. The answer depends on whether the land is registered, where the technical description actually falls on the ground, whether the neighbour built in good faith, how long ago it happened, whether a demand was ever made, and what the assessed value is – because that decides which court hears the case. Each of those is a different body of law.
This site was built to close that gap: to state the rule, identify what has to be proved, name the document that proves it, set out the remedy that fits, and point to the office or court where it belongs – while keeping the law itself clearly separate from our explanation of it.
What you will find here
The Civil Code, mapped
A structured library of the Civil Code organised by book and title – the Preliminary Title on the effect of laws and human relations, Book I on persons, Book II on property and ownership, Book III on the modes of acquiring ownership, and Book IV on obligations and contracts – with the provisions that have since been amended or displaced by special legislation identified as such.
Six topic hubs
Guides are grouped the way problems actually arrive: Property and Ownership, Succession and Inheritance, Obligations and Contracts, Damages and Civil Liability, Persons and Civil Status, and Barangay, Courts and Civil Remedies.
The procedural hub is treated as a pillar rather than an afterthought, because “where do I file this, and have I already missed the deadline” is the question people most often get wrong.
Decision guides
Each guide follows the same shape: a direct answer, a decision snapshot, the governing rule with its citation, the facts that change the result, the documents and evidence that decide it, the remedy and the correct forum, the practical steps, frequently asked questions, and the sources relied on.
The site is young and is being built hub by hub. Property and Ownership is live; Succession and Inheritance is in progress; the remaining hubs are being filled in order. A glossary, an FAQ hub and downloadable checklists are planned. We would rather say that plainly than imply coverage that does not exist yet.
Our editorial and research standards
We prioritise primary sources
Research relies on the Official Gazette, the Supreme Court and its E-Library, the Rules of Court, the Land Registration Authority and the Registry of Deeds, the DENR, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Philippine Statistics Authority, the DILG, the DHSUD and the Department of Agrarian Reform. Secondary material may supply context but never replaces controlling law.
We do not cite private law-firm commentary as authority for a legal proposition. If a firm’s article is the only thing asserting something, that is a reason to go and find the provision or decision behind it.
We distinguish types of authority
A guide should make clear whether a statement comes from the Constitution, a statute, the Civil Code, a special law that displaces it, a rule of procedure, a Supreme Court decision, an agency issuance, or our own explanation. These do not carry the same weight.
We avoid unsupported conclusions
We do not invent case citations, article numbers, deadlines, fees or agency procedures. Where a material point cannot be verified from a permitted source, it is omitted, qualified, or marked as needing confirmation – and where the wording of a provision could not be confirmed verbatim, it is paraphrased and cited by number rather than dressed up in quotation marks.
Where the Supreme Court itself has taken more than one view, we cite both decisions and say the point is unsettled.
We date what we publish
Thresholds, fees, registry practice and doctrine all move. Guides carry a Last materially reviewed date reflecting when the substance was actually rechecked.
The full standards are set out in our Editorial Policy and Research Methodology, Source and Citation Policy and Content Review Policy.
The people behind CivilLaw.PH
Anton Sheker
Co-Founder, Digital Publishing and Knowledge Architecture
Anton Sheker is a digital marketing strategist, SEO architect, technology consultant and digital publisher with more than 18 years of experience in search strategy, website architecture, analytics, structured data and online information systems. His work focuses on organising complex information so that it can be found, understood, connected and verified – across search engines and AI-driven discovery alike.
At CivilLaw.PH he leads digital publishing strategy, legal information architecture, search and AI visibility, structured data, knowledge-graph development, content systems, technical development, and source traceability and internal linking. He is also behind LaborCode.ph, FamilyCode.ph, CyberCode.ph, Sulit.ph, GoIligan.com and Takedown Taskforce.
Anton is not presented as an attorney. His role concerns digital publishing, research systems, information architecture and public access to structured legal information.
Marjo Villarosa
Co-Founder, Research Governance and Digital Trust
Marjo Villarosa is a cybersecurity, digital identity and data governance professional with extensive experience in online security, identity protection, risk management and technology-led investigations, including cybersecurity training associated with international law-enforcement environments and leadership in biometric security and authentication systems.
At CivilLaw.PH she contributes to research governance, information integrity, digital trust and security, privacy considerations, risk assessment, source validation and platform governance. Marjo is not presented as an attorney.
Atty. Alan Joseph Sheker
Special Legal Consultant
Atty. Alan Joseph Sheker serves as Special Legal Consultant to the network, providing legal perspective on editorial standards, source interpretation and selected legal-content initiatives.
His appointment does not mean that every article has been individually reviewed by him. Article-level legal-review credit is displayed only where he, or another named Philippine lawyer, has completed a review of that specific page. Qualified Philippine lawyers who wish to contribute, review selected material or propose corrections are welcome to get in touch.
Independent and non-government
CivilLaw.PH is an independent, privately operated information website. It is not the Supreme Court, the Land Registration Authority, the Registry of Deeds, the Department of Justice, the Public Attorney’s Office, any other government agency, an official government publication, a law firm, or a lawyer-referral service.
References to agencies, laws, decisions or official procedures do not imply endorsement, affiliation, accreditation or partnership. Official government sources remain controlling wherever a difference arises.
Sister sites and related platforms
CivilLaw.PH belongs to a network of independent Philippine legal-information platforms built and managed by the same team, each dedicated to one body of law and all applying the same sourcing and traceability standards:
- LaborCode.ph – the Labor Code, employment rights, dismissal, pay and DOLE, SEnA and NLRC procedure.
- FamilyCode.ph – the Family Code: marriage, nullity and annulment, legal separation, custody, support, and property relations between spouses.
- CyberCode.ph – technology law, data privacy, cybersecurity, cybercrime, intellectual property and AI governance.
The boundaries between the sites are assigned deliberately rather than left to overlap. Property relations between spouses belong to FamilyCode.ph while co-ownership and partition mechanics stay here; the status of an heir is determined there while the computation of the legitime is handled here; trademarks and intellectual creation go to CyberCode.ph; employment obligations go to LaborCode.ph. Where a question crosses a boundary, we state the civil-law rule and link across rather than duplicating the subject.
CivilLaw.PH is not a law firm
Nothing here is legal advice, and reading it creates no lawyer-client relationship. Civil cases turn on their own documents, dates and facts. For advice on your own situation consult a Philippine lawyer, or the Public Attorney’s Office if you qualify for its assistance. The full position is set out in our Terms of Use and Disclaimer.
Responsible use of legal information
Use these guides to orient yourself: to learn the vocabulary, to find the controlling provision, to see which documents matter, and to arrive at a lawyer’s office or a government counter already knowing what you are asking for. Do not use them to calculate a deadline you cannot afford to miss, to decide whether to sign, or to conclude that you have no case.
Who this site serves
Landowners and titleholders; homebuyers and condominium owners; heirs and families settling an estate; landlords and tenants; borrowers and lenders; small business owners and contractors; people pursuing or defending a claim for damages; and the students, paralegals, researchers and practitioners who need a fast, sourced orientation to a provision.
Our commitment
To cite what we rely on. To separate the law from our explanation of it. To say plainly when something is unsettled, unverified or outside our scope. To correct material errors promptly. And never to publish a number, a deadline or a case citation we have not actually checked.
Corrections
If you believe a provision has been amended, a doctrine has moved, a threshold has been superseded, or a statement on this site is wrong, tell the editors. A useful report includes the page address, the statement at issue, and the official source you are relying on. Reports are assessed against the controlling authority; submitting one does not guarantee a change or a particular response time. How reports are handled is described in our Content Review Policy.
Editorial disclosure
CivilLaw.PH is self-funded and editorially independent. No agency, firm, developer or commercial party pays for coverage, placement or a particular conclusion. If affiliate links, sponsorships or paid relationships are introduced in future, they will be disclosed where relevant and will not determine the legal or factual conclusion of a guide.
Last materially reviewed: 11 September 2026.