The Supreme Court in Tapec vs. Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 111952, October 26, 1994) explained in this, to wit:
"Article 1358 does not invalidate the acts or contracts enumerated therein if they are not embodied in public documents. As one noted civilian (Tolentino, Arturo) has said:
This Article enumerates certain contracts that must appear in public or private documents. This provision does not require such form in order to validate the act or contract but to insure its efficacy. It is limited to an enumeration of the acts and contracts which should be reduced to writing in a public or private instrument. The reduction to writing in a public or private document, required in this article, is not an essential requisite for the existence of the contract, but is simply a coercive power granted to the contracting parties by which they can reciprocally compel the observance of these formal requisites. Contracts enumerated by this article are, therefore, valid as between the contracting parties, even when they have not been reduced to public or private writings. Except in certain cases where public instruments and registration are required for the validity of the contract itself, the legalization of a contract by means of a public writing and its entry in the register are not essential solemnities or requisites for the validity of the contract as between the contracting parties, but are required for the purpose of making it effective as against third person." [emphasis supplied]
The Supreme Court in Estate of Pedro C. Gonzales vs. Heirs of Marcos Perez (G.R. No. 169681, November 5, 2009) further states:
"Nonetheless, it is a settled rule that the failure to observe the proper form prescribed by Article 1358 does not render the acts or contracts enumerated therein invalid. It has been uniformly held that the form required under the said Article is not essential to the validity or enforceability of the transaction, but merely for convenience. xxx For the time-honored rule is that even a verbal contract of sale of real estate produces legal effects between the parties. Stated differently, although a conveyance of land is not made in a public document, it does not affect the validity of such conveyance. Article 1358 does not require the accomplishment of the acts or contracts in a public instrument in order to validate the act or contract but only to insure its efficacy." [emphasis supplied]
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