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Act No. 397 Section 2

Section 2

SEC. 2. Said Act Numbered One hundred and ninety is hereby further amended by the insertion of a new section immediately after section four hundred and twenty-three, to be numbered four hundred and twenty-three (a), reading as follows; "SEC. 423. (a) Release of poor judgment debtor.—If judgment be recovered by the plaintiff and the case is one of those mentioned in section four hundred and twelve, execution may issue against the person of the judgment debtor, committing him to the jail in the province until he pay the judgment with interest and costs of commitment and support, or be discharged according to law: Provided, however, The judgment debtor may at any time after judgment apply to the judge or justice of the peace who made the order of commitment or issued the execution on which commitment was made, or to the court in which the judgment was rendered, upon reasonable notice to the adverse party, to discharge the judgment debtor from arrest. Upon such application a judge, justice of the peace, or court, as the case may be, shall grant immediate hearing, after notice to the parties, and if it is made to appear that the judgment debtor has not any estate, real or personal, not exempt by law from being taken on execution, and has not any other estate or property conveyed, concealed, or in any way disposed of with the design unlawfully to secure the same to his own use or that of his family, or to defraud or delay the judgment creditor, the judgment debtor shall be discharged from further imprisonment upon subscribing the following oath, which shall be filed among the papers pertaining to the action: " 'I, ____________________________, do solemnly swear that I have not any estate, real or personal, except such as is by law exempt from being taken in execution; and that I have not any other estate or property now conveyed, concealed, or in any way disposed of with design to secure the same unlawfully to my use or that of my family, or to hinder, delay, or defraud my creditors. So help me God.' "The prisoner, after being so discharged, shall he forever exempted from arrest or imprisonment for the same debt, but the judgment against him shall remain in full force against any estate which may then or at any time afterwards belong to him, and the plaintiff may take out a new execution against the goods and estate of the prisoner in like manner as if he had never been committed. The plaintiff in the action may at any time order the prisoner to be discharged and he shall not thereafter be liable to imprisonment for the same cause of action."

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Other provisions in Act No. 397

Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗ · Data as of July 4, 2026

CitationAct No. 397 Section 2 (LawPlayer, data as of July 4, 2026)

Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).

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