Woman's sister seeks help in settling debts

Woman's sister seeks help in settling debts "My sister incurred lots of debts in sending our neighbor to school who was unjustly abandoned by her mother. All her creditors are now already asking for the payment of her debts. She is willing to face all her obligations but she does not have the money to settle all of them at once. What can she do? Portia Dear Portia,The act of your sister in sending to school persons who are not related to her by consanguinity or by affinity is highly commendable, not to mention, very noble. Nevertheless, the nobility of her act is not a reason to eliminate her obligation to pay the debts she incurred in sending her neighbor's daughter to school. She still remains duty bound to pay her creditors whatever amount she borrowed, with interests if there is a stipulation to this effect. We understand that your sister is willing but is currently unable to settle all her obligations at once. This notwithstanding, your sister's creditors may file a civil case for collection of sum of money against her if she failed to pay her debts according to her agreement with her creditors.As facing civil cases in court may be troublesome and tedious, your sister should try to do something to forestall its filing. She may do so by making a compromise with her creditors. She may assure her creditors that she is not forgetting her obligations and she is very much willing to settle the same. But as her finances wouldn't allow her to settle all of her obligations immediately, she may ask for another period to pay the same or other terms which may help her in fulfilling her obligations.If your sister and her creditors would reach a concession, they may execute a compromise agreement reflecting the terms and conditions that they have agreed upon. Article 2028 of the Civil Code defines a compromise as a contract whereby the parties, by making reciprocal concessions, avoid litigation or put an end to one already commenced. Once a compromise is reached, your sister should make sure that she will abide by all the terms included therein. Otherwise, her creditors may either enforce the compromise or regard it as rescinded and insist upon his original demand.Since your sister is not under any obligation to answer for the education of her neighbor's daughter, she may reimburse whatever she spent for the latter's education from the persons obliged to support her, unless she gave it without any intention of being reimbursed (Article 206, Family Code of the Philippines). She may use the amount that she may recover in paying her obligations to her creditors.Finally, we wish to remind you that this opinion is solely based on your narration of facts and our appreciation of the same. The opinion may vary if other facts are added or elaborated.We hope that we were able to address your concern. Editor's note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney's Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao and send to 2299)." - https://www.affordablecebu.com/