Balanueco, Bea Mae

Far Eastern University A.Y. 2019-2020, 2ndsemester

Obligations and Contracts
Section 28

Case Study 1:
Case Title: Arturo Pelayo, plaintiff-appellant, vs. Marcelo Lauron et al., defendants-
appellees. G. R.No. L-4089, 12 January 1909

Facts: On November 23, 1906, Arturo Pelayo, a Physician residing in Cebu filed a
complaint against Marcelo Lauron and Juana Abella for rendering medical assistance to
their daughter-in-law who was about to give birth. The daughter-in-law died during
childbirth and the defendants refuse to pay without any good reason.

The defedants alleged that their daughter-in-law died in consequence of the said
childbirth and that she lived with her husband without any relation with them and her
stay was accidental and due to a fortuitous circumstance.

Issue: Whether Lauron and Abella are liable to Pelayo for the services rendered absent
the existence of a contract

Held: No. Under the law, in case of illness, spouses are bound to mutually support each
other. In this case, the burden of paying falls on the husband and not on the parents-in-
law. The husband is liable for all expenses including the professional fees of the
medical expert who assisted during childbirth.

Since there was no contract agreed upon that the defendants will pay for the
expenses, then they were not liable. As stated in the civil code, “Obligations arising
from law are not presumed. Only those expressly determined in this Code or in
special laws are demandable.” Within the meaning of the law, the father and mother-
in-law are strangers with respect to the obligation that falls upon the husband to give
support.