Notes on Wills and Succession

Definition and Concept

ARTICLE 774 of Civil Code of the Philippines.

Succession is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights

and obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person are
transmitted through his death to another or others either by his will or by
operation of law.

ARTICLE 712 of CC

Ownership is acquired by occupation and by intellectual creation.

Ownership and other real rights over property are acquired and transmitted
by law, by donation, by estate and intestate succession, and in consequence
of certain contracts, by tradition.
They may also be acquired by means of prescription.
Subjects of Succession
Art. 775. In this Title, "decedent" is the general term applied to the person whose
property is transmitted through succession, whether or not he left a will. If he left a
will, he is also called the testator.
Art. 782. An heir is a person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or
by operation of law.
Art. 1026. A testamentary disposition may be made to the State, provinces, municipal
corporations, private corporations, organizations, or associations for religious, scientific,
cultural, educational, or charitable purposes.
All other corporations or entities may succeed under a will, unless there is a provision
to the contrary in their charter or the laws of their creation, and always subject to the
same
Art. 1029. Should the testator dispose of the whole or part of his property for prayers
and pious works for the benefit of his soul, in general terms and without specifying its
application, the executor, with the court's approval shall deliver one-half thereof or its
proceeds to the church or denomination to which the testator may belong, to be used
for such prayers and pious works, and the other half to the State, for the purposes
mentioned in Article 1013.
Art. 1013. After the payment of debts and charges, the personal property shall be
assigned to the municipality or city where the deceased last resided in the Philippines,
and the real estate to the municipalities or cities, respectively, in which the same is
situated.
If the deceased never resided in the Philippines, the whole estate shall be assigned to
the respective municipalities or cities where the same is located.
Such estate shall be for the benefit of public schools, and public charitable institutions
and centers, in such municipalities or cities. The court shall distribute the estate as the
respective needs of each beneficiary may warrant.
The court, at the instance of an interested party, or on its own motion, may order the
establishment of a permanent trust, so that only the income from the property shall be
used
G.R. No. L-47799 June 13, 1941
Administration of the estate of Agripino Neri y Chavez. ELEUTERIO NERI, ET AL., petitioners,
vs.
IGNACIA AKUTIN AND HER CHILDREN, respondents.
Ozamiz & Capistrano for petitioners.
Gullas, Leuterio, Tanner & Laput for respondents.
MORAN, J.:
Agripino Neri y Chavez, who died on December 12, 1931, had by his first marriage six children
named Eleuterio, Agripino, Agapito, Getulia, Rosario and Celerina; and by his second marriage with
Ignacia Akutin, five children named Gracia, Godofredo, Violeta, Estela Maria, and Emma. Getulia,
daughter in the first marriage, died on October 2, 1923, that is, a little less than eight years before
the death of said Agripino Neri y Chavez, and was survived by seven children named Remedios,
Encarnacion, Carmen, Trinidad, Luz, Alberto and Minda. In Agripino Neri's testament, which was
admitted to probate on March 21, 1932, he willed that his children by the first marriage shall have no
longer any participation in his estate, as they had already received their corresponding shares during
his lifetime. At the hearing for the declaration of heirs,
the trial court found, contrary to what the testator had declared in his will, that all his children by the
first and second marriages intestate heirs of the deceased without prejudice to one-half of the
improvements introduced in the properties during the existence of the last conjugal partnership,
which should belong to Ignacia Akutin.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's decision with the modification that the will was "valid
with respect to the two-thirds part which the testator could freely dispose of. "This judgment of the
Court of Appeals is now sought to be reviewed in this petition for certiorari.
Issue:
The decisive question here raised is whether, upon the foregoing facts, the omission of the children
of the first marriage annuls the institution of the children of the first marriage as sole heirs of the
testator, or
whether the will may be held valid, at least with respect to one-third of the estate which the testator
may dispose of as legacy and to the other one-third which he may bequeath as betterment, to said
children of the second marriage.
The Court of Appeals invoked the provisions of article 851 of the Civil Code, which read in part as
follows:
Disinheritance made without a statement of the cause, or for a cause the truth of which, if
contradicted, is not proven, ... shall annul the institution of the heir in so far as it prejudices
 the person disinherited; but the legacies, betterments, and other testamentary dispositions,
in so far as they do no encroach upon the legitime, shall be valid.
The appellate court thus seemed to have rested its judgment upon the impression that the testator
had intended to disinherit, though ineffectively, the children of the first marriage. There is nothing in
the will that supports this conclusion. True, the testator expressly denied them any share in his
estate; but the denial was predicated, not upon the desire to disinherit, but upon the belief, mistaken
though it was, that the children by the first marriage had already received more than their
corresponding shares in his lifetime in the form of advancement. Such belief conclusively negatives
all inference as to any intention to disinherit, unless his statement to that effect is prove to be
deliberately fictitious, a fact not found by the Court of Appeals. The situation contemplated in the
above provision is one in which the purpose to disinherit is clear, but upon a cause not stated or not
proved, a situation which does not obtain in the instant case.
The Court of Appeals quotes Manresa thus:
En el terreno de los principios, la solucion mas justa del problema que hemos hecho notar al
comentar el articulo, seria distinguir el caso en que el heredero omitido viviese al otorgarse
el testamento, siendo conocida su existencia por el testador, de aquel en que, o naciese
despues, o se ignorase su existencia, aplicando en el primer caso la doctrina del articulo
851, y en el segundo la del 814. (6 Manresa, 354-355.)
But it must be observed that this opinion is founded on mere principles (en el terreno de los
principios) and not on the express provisions of the law. Manresa himself admits that according to
law, "no existe hoy cuestion alguna en esta materia: la pretericion produce siempre los mismos
efectos, ya se refiera a personas vivas al hacer el testamento o nacidas despues. Este ultimo grupo
solo puede hacer relacion a los descendientes legitimos, siempre que ademas tengan derecho a
legitima." (6 Manresa, 381.)
Appellants, on the other hand, maintain that the case is one of voluntary preterition of four of the
children by the first marriage, and of involuntary preterition of the children by the deceased Getulia,
also of the first marriage, and is thus governed by the provisions of article 814 of the Civil Code,
which read in part as follows:
The preterition of one or all of the forced heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of
the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator, shall void the institution of
heir; but the legacies and betterments shall be valid, in so far as they are not inofficious.
Preterition consists in the omission in the testator's will of the forced heirs or anyone of them, either
because they are not mentioned therein, or, though mentioned, they are neither instituted as heirs
nor are expressly disinherited.(Cf. 6 Manresa, 346.) In the instant case, while the children of the first
marriage were mentioned in the will, they were not accorded any share in the heriditary property,
without expressly being disinherited. It is, therefore, a clear case of preterition as contended by
appellants. The omission of the forced heirs or anyone of them, whether voluntary or involuntary, is a
preterition if the purpose to disinherit is not expressly made or is not at least manifest.
Except as to "legacies and betterments" which "shall be valid in so far as they are not inofficious"
(art. 814 of the Civil Code), preterition avoids the institution of heirs and gives rise to intestate
succession. (Art. 814, Civil Code; Decisions of the Supreme Court of Spain of June 17, 1908 and
February 27, 1909.) In the instant case, no such legacies or betterments have been made by the
testator. "Mejoras" or betterments must be expressly provided, according to articles 825 and 828 of
the Civil Code, and where no express provision therefor is made in the will, the law would presume
that the testator had no intention to that effect. (Cf. 6 Manresa, 479.) In the will here in question, no
express betterment is made in favor of the children by the second marriage; neither is there any
legacy expressly made in their behalf consisting of the third available for free disposal. The whole
inheritance is accorded the heirs by the second marriage upon the mistaken belief that the heirs by
the first marriage have already received their shares. Were it not for this mistake, the testator's
intention, as may be clearly inferred from his will, would have been to divide his property equally
among all his children.
Judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed and that of the trial court affirmed, without prejudice to
the widow's legal usufruct, with costs against respondents.
3. Objects of Succession
Article 776
Art. 781. The inheritance of a person includes not only the property and the
transmissible rights and obligations existing at the time of his death, but also those
which have accrued thereto since the opening of the succession.
Art. 731. When a person donates something, subject to the resolutory condition of the
donor's survival, there is a donation inter vivos.
Art. 1311. Contracts take effect only between the parties, their assigns and heirs,
except in case where the rights and obligations arising from the contract are not
transmissible by their nature, or by stipulation or by provision of law. The heir is not
liable beyond the value of the property he received from the decedent.
If a contract should contain some stipulation in favor of a third person, he may demand
its fulfillment provided he communicated his acceptance to the obligor before its
revocation. A mere incidental benefit or interest of a person is not sufficient. The
contracting parties must have clearly and deliberately conferred a favor upon a third
person.
Article 1429
When a testate or intestate heir voluntarily pays a debt of the decedent exceeding the
value of the property which he received by will or by the law of intestacy from the
estate of the deceased, the payment is valid and cannot be rescinded by the payer
Section 5, Rule 86, Rules of Court
Claims which must be filed under the notice. If not filed, barred; exceptions. —
All claims for money against the decent, arising from contract, express or implied,
whether the same be due, not due, or contingent, all claims for funeral expenses and
expense for the last sickness of the decedent, and judgment for money against the
decent, must be filed within the time limited in the notice; otherwise they are barred
forever, except that they may be set forth as counterclaims in any action that the
executor or administrator may bring against the claimants. Where an executor or
administrator commences an action, or prosecutes an action already commenced by the
deceased in his lifetime, the debtor may set forth by answer the claims he has against
the decedent, instead of presenting them independently to the court as herein
provided, and mutual claims may be set off against each other in such action; and if
final judgment is rendered in favor of the defendant, the amount so determined shall be
considered the true balance against the estate, as though the claim had been presented
directly before the court in the administration proceedings. Claims not yet due, or
contingent, may be approved at their present value.
Article 1347
All things which are not outside the commerce of men, including future things, may be
the object of a contract. All rights which are not intransmissible may also be the object
of contracts.
No contract may be entered into upon future inheritance except in cases expressly
authorized by law.
All services which are not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or public
policy may likewise be the object of a contract
Article 130
The title for prescription must be true and valid
Article 1461
Things having a potential existence may be the object of the contract of sale.
The efficacy of the sale of a mere hope or expectancy is deemed subject to the
condition that the thing will come into existence.
The sale of a vain hope or expectancy is void

Article 305-310
TITLE X FUNERALS (n)
Article 305. The duty and the right to make arrangements for the funeral of a
relative shall be in accordance with the order established for support, under article
294. In case of descendants of the same degree, or of brothers and sisters, the
oldest shall be preferred. In case of ascendants, the paternal shall have a better
right.
Article 294. The claim for support, when proper and two or more persons are
obliged to give it, shall be made in the following order:
(1) From the spouse;
(2) From the descendants of the nearest degree;
(3) From the ascendants, also of the nearest degree;
(4) From the brothers and sisters.
Among descendants and ascendants the order in which they are called to the
intestate succession of the person who has a right to claim support shall be
observed.
Article 306. Every funeral shall be in keeping with the social position of the
deceased.
Article 307. The funeral shall be in accordance with the expressed wishes of the
deceased. In the absence of such expression, his religious beliefs or affiliation shall
determine the funeral rites. In case of doubt, the form of the funeral shall be
decided upon by the person obliged to make arrangements for the same, after
consulting the other members of the family.
Article 308. No human remains shall be retained, interred, disposed of or exhumed
without the consent of the persons mentioned in articles 294 and 305.
Article 309. Any person who shows disrespect to the dead, or wrongfully interferes
with a funeral shall be liable to the family of the deceased for damages, material
and moral.
Article 310. The construction of a tombstone or mausoleum shall be deemed a part
of the funeral expenses, and shall be chargeable to the conjugal partnership
property, if the deceased is one of the spouses.
Republic Act. No. 1056
An Act to Amend Republic Act Numbered Three Hundred and Forty-Nine, Entitled "An Act to
Legalize Permissions to Use Human Organs or Any Portion or Portions of the Human Body
for Medical, Surgical, or Scientific Purposes, Under Certain Conditions"
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:
Section 1. Sections one of Republic Act Numbered Three hundred forty-nine, entitled "An Act to
legalize permissions to use human organs or any portion or portions of the human body for medical,
surgical, or scientific purposes, under certain conditions", is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 1. A person may validly grant to a licensed physician, surgeon, known scientist, or any medical
or scientific institution, including eye banks and other similar institutions, authority to detach at any
time after the grantor’s death any organ, part or parts of his body and to utilize the same for medical,
surgical, or scientific purposes.
"Similar authority may also be granted for the utilization for medical, surgical, or scientific purposes,
of any organ, part or parts of the body which, for a legitimate reason, would be detached from the
body of the grantor."
Section 2. Section two of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Sec. 2. The authorization referred to in section one of this Act must: be in writing; specify the person
or institution granted the authorization; the organ, part or parts to be detached, the specific use or
uses to which the organ, part or parts are to be employed; and, signed by the grantor and two
disinterested witnesses.
"If the grantor is a minor or an incompetent person, the authorization may be executed by his
guardian with the approval of the court; in default thereof, by the legitimate father or mother, in the
order, named. Married women may grant the authority referred to in section one of this Act without
the consent of the husband.
"After the death of the person, authority to use human organs or any portion or portions of the
human body for medical, surgical or scientific purposes may also be granted by his nearest relative
or guardian at the time of his death or in the absence thereof, by the person or head of the hospital,
or institution having custody of the body of the deceased: Provided, However, That the said person
or head of the hospital or institution has exerted reasonable efforts to locate the aforesaid guardian
or relative.
"A copy of every such authorization must be furnished the Secretary of Health."
Section 3. A new section is hereby created immediately after section two of the aforesaid Republic
Act Numbered Three hundred forty nine which shall hereafter be designate as section two-A, and
shall read as follows:
"Section 2-A. The provisions of sections one and two of this Act notwithstanding, it shall be illegal for
any person or any institution to detach any organ or portion of the body of a person dying of a
dangerous communicable disease even if said organ or portion of the human body shall be used for
medical or scientific purposes. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be
punished with an imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than year. If the violation is
committed by an institution, corporation or association, the director, manager, president, and/or other
officials and employees who, knowingly or through neglect, perform the act or acts resulting in said
violation shall be held criminally responsible therefor."
Section 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 12, 1954.

Republic Act. 7170

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE LEGACY OR DONATION OF ALL OR PART OF A HUMAN BODY
AFTER DEATH FOR SPECIFIED PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
Section 1. Title. – This Act shall be known as the "Organ Donation Act of 1991".
Section 2. Definition of Terms. – As used in this Act the following terms shall mean:
(a) "Organ Bank Storage Facility" - a facility licensed, accredited or approved under the law
for storage of human bodies or parts thereof.
(b) "Decedent" - a deceased individual, and includes a still-born infant or fetus.
(c) "Testator" - an individual who makes a legacy of all or part of his body.
(d) "Donor" - an individual authorized under this Act to donate all or part of the body of a
decedent. 1awphilŸalf

(e) "Hospital" - a hospital licensed, accredited or approval under the law, and includes, a
hospital operated by the Government.
(f) "Part" - includes transplantable organs, tissues, eyes, bones, arteries, blood, other fluids
and other portions of the human body.
(g) "Person" - an individual, corporation, estate, trust, partnership, association, the
Government or any of its subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities, including government-
owned or -controlled corporations; or any other legal entity.
(h) "Physician" or "Surgeon" - a physician or surgeon licensed or authorized to practice
medicine under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines.
(i) "Immediate Family" of the decedent - the persons enumerated in Section 4(a) of this Act.
(j) "Death" - the irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or the
irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem. A person
shall be medically and legally dead if either:1awphilŸalf
 (1) In the opinion of the attending physician, based on the acceptable standards of
medical practice, there is an absence of natural respiratory and cardiac functions
and, attempts at resuscitation would not be successful in restoring those functions. In
this case, death shall be deemed to have occurred at the time these functions
ceased; or
(2) In the opinion of the consulting physician, concurred in by the attending physician,
that on the basis of acceptable standards of medical practice, there is an irreversible
cessation of all brain functions; and considering the absence of such functions,
further attempts at resuscitation or continued supportive maintenance would not be
successful in resorting such natural functions. In this case, death shall be deemed to
have occurred at the time when these conditions first appeared.
The death of the person shall be determined in accordance with the acceptable standards of medical
practice and shall be diagnosed separately by the attending physician and another consulting
physician, both of whom must be appropriately qualified and suitably experienced in the care of such
parties. The death shall be recorded in the patient's medical record.
Section 3. Person Who May Execute A Legacy. – Any individual, at least eighteen (18) years of
age and of sound mind, may give by way of legacy, to take effect after his death, all or part of his
body for any purpose specified in Section 6 hereof.
Section 4. Person Who May Execute a Donation. –
(a) Any of the following, person, in the order of property stated hereunder, in the absence of
actual notice of contrary intentions by the decedent or actual notice of opposition by a
member of the immediate family of the decedent, may donate all or any part of the
decedent's body for any purpose specified in Section 6 hereof:
(1) Spouse;
(2) Son or daughter of legal age;
(3) Either parent;
(4) Brother or sister of legal age; or
(5) Guardian over the person of the decedent at the time of his death.
(b) The persons authorized by sub-section (a) of this Section may make the donation after or
immediately before death.
Section 5. Examination of Human Body or Part Thereof . – A legacy of donation of all or part of a
human body authorizes any examination necessary to assure medical acceptability of the legacy or
donation for the purpose(s) intended.
For purposes of this Act, an autopsy shall be conducted on the cadaver of accident, trauma, or other
medico-legal cases immediately after the pronouncement of death, to determine qualified and
healthy human organs for transplantation and/or in furtherance of medical science.
Section 6. Persons Who May Become Legatees or Donees. – The following persons may
become legatees or donees of human bodies or parts thereof for any of the purposes stated
hereunder:
(a) Any hospital, physician or surgeon - For medical or dental education, research,
advancement of medical or dental science, therapy or transplantation;
 (b) Any accredited medical or dental school, college or university - For education, research,
advancement of medical or dental science, or therapy;
(c) Any organ bank storage facility - For medical or dental education, research, therapy, or
transplantation; and
(d) Any specified individual - For therapy or transplantation needed by him.
Section 7. Duty of Hospitals. – A hospital authorized to receive organ donations or to conduct
transplantation shall train qualified personnel and their staff to handle the task of introducing the
organ donation program in a humane and delicate manner to the relatives of the donor-decedent
enumerated in Section 4 hereof. The hospital shall accomplish the necessary form or document as
proof of compliance with the above requirement.
Section 8. Manner of Executing a Legacy. –
(a) Legacy of all or part of the human body under Section 3 hereof may be made by will. The
legacy becomes effective upon the death of the testator without waiting for probate of the
will. If the will is not probated, or if it is declared invalid for testamentary purposes, the
legacy, to the extent that it was executed in good faith, is nevertheless valid and effective.
(b) A legacy of all or part of the human body under Section 3 hereof may also be made in
any document other than a will. The legacy becomes effective upon death of the testator and
shall be respected by and binding upon his executor or administrator, heirs, assigns,
successors-in-interest and all members of the family. The document, which may be a card or
any paper designed to be carried on a person, must be signed by the testator in the
presence of two witnesses who must sign the document in his presence. If the testator
cannot sign, the document may be signed for him at his discretion and in his presence, in the
presence of two witnesses who must, likewise, sign the document in the presence of the
testator. Delivery of the document of legacy during the testator's lifetime is not necessary to
make the legacy valid.
(c) The legacy may be made to a specified legatee or without specifying a legatee. If the
legacy is made to a specified legatee who is not available at the time and place of the
testator's death, the attending physician or surgeon, in the absence of any expressed
indication that the testator desired otherwise, may accept the legacy as legatee. If the legacy
does not specify a legatee, the legacy may be accepted by the attending physician or
surgeon as legatee upon or following the testator's death. The physician who becomes a
legatee under this subsection shall not participate in the procedures for removing or
transplanting a part or parts of the body of the decedent.
(d) The testator may designate in his will, card or other document, the surgeon or physician
who will carry out the appropriate procedures. In the absence of a designation, or if the
designee is not available, the legatee or other persons authorized to accept the legacy may
authorize any surgeon or physician for the purpose.
Section 9. Manner of Executing a Donation. – Any donation by a person authorized under
subsection (a) of Section 4 hereof shall be sufficient if it complies with the formalities of a donation of
a movable property.
In the absence of any of the persons specified under Section 4 hereof and in the absence of any
document of organ donation, the physician in charge of the patient, the head of the hospital or a
designated officer of the hospital who has custody of the body of the deceased classified as
accident, trauma, or other medico-legal cases, may authorize in a public document the removal from
such body for the purpose of transplantation of the organ to the body of a living person: Provided,
That the physician, head of hospital or officer designated by the hospital for this purpose has exerted
reasonable efforts, within forty-eight (48) hours, to locate the nearest relative listed in Section 4
hereof or guardian of the decedent at the time of death.
In all donations, the death of a person from whose body an organ will be removed after his death for
the purpose of transplantation to a living person, shall be diagnosed separately and certified by two
(2) qualified physicians neither of whom should be:
(a) A member of the team of medical practitioners who will effect the removal of the organ
from the body; nor
(b) The physician attending to the receipt of the organ to be removed; nor
(c) The head of hospital or the designated officer authorizing the removal of the organ.
Section 10. Person(s) Authorized to Remove Transplantable Organs. – Only authorized medical
practitioners in a hospital shall remove and/or transplant any organ which is authorized to be
removed and/or transplanted pursuant to Section 5 hereof.
Section 11. Delivery of Document of Legacy or Donation. – If the legacy or donation is made to a
specified legatee or donee, the will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof, may be
delivered by the testator or donor, or is authorized representative, to the legatee or donee to
expedite the appropriate procedures immediately after death. The will, card or other document, or an
executed copy thereof, may be deposited in any hospital or organ bank storage facility that accepts it
for safekeeping or for facilitation or procedures after death. On the request of any interested party
upon or after the testator's death, the person in possession shall produce the document of legacy or
donation for verification.
Section 12. Amendment or Revocation of Legacy or Donation. –
a) If he will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof, has been delivered to a
specific legatee or donee, the testator or donor may amend or revoke the legacy or donation
either by:
(1) The execution and delivery to the legatee or donee of a signed statement to that
effect; or
(2) An oral statement to that effect made in the presence of two other persons and
communicated to the legatee or donee; or
(3) A statement to that effect during a terminal illness or injury addressed to an
attending physician and communicated to the legatee or donee; or
(4) A signed card or document to that effect found on the person or effects of the
testator or donor.
(b) Any will, card or other document, or an executed copy thereof, which has not been
delivered to the legatee or donee may be revoked by the testator or donor in the manner
provided in subsection (a) of this Section or by destruction, cancellation or mutilation of the
document and all executed copies thereof.
Any legacy made by a will may also be amended or revoked in the manner provided for
amendment or revocation of wills, or as provided in subsection (a) of this Section.
Section 13. Rights and Duties After Death. –
(a) The legatee or donee may accept or reject the legacy or donation as the case may be. If
the legacy of donation is of a part of the body, the legatee or donee, upon the death of the
testator and prior to embalming, shall effect the removal of the part, avoiding unnecessary
 mutilation. After removal of the part, custody of the remainder of the body vests in the
surviving spouse, next of kin or other persons under obligation to dispose of the body of the
decedent.
(b) Any person who acts in good faith in accordance with the terms of this Act shall not be
liable for damages in any civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding of
this Act.
Section 14. International Sharing of Human Organs or Tissues. – Sharing of human organs or
tissues shall be made only through exchange programs duly approved by the Department of Health:
Provided, That foreign organ or tissue bank storage facilities and similar establishments grant
reciprocal rights to their Philippine counterparts to draw organs or tissues at any time.
Section 15. Information Drive. – In order that the public will obtain the maximum benefits from this
Act, the Department of Health, in cooperation with institutions, such as the National Kidney Institute,
civic and non-government health organizations and other health related agencies, involved in the
donation and transplantation of human organs, shall undertake a public information program.
The Secretary of Health shall endeavor to persuade all health professionals, both government and
private, to make an appeal for human organ donation.
Section 16. Rules and Regulations. – The Secretary of Health, after consultation with all health
professionals, both government and private, and non-government health organizations shall
promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper to implement this Act.
Section 17. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, ordinances, rules and regulations, executive or
administrative orders, and other presidential issuance inconsistent with this Act, are hereby
repealed, amended or modified accordingly.
Section 18. Separability Clause. – The provisions of this Act are hereby deemed separable. If any
provision hereof should be declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions shall remain
in full force and effect.
Section 19. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its publication in
the Official Gazette or at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved: January 7, 1992