Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

Second Judicial Region
Branch IV (Family Court)
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
CRIM. CASE NO. 16613
Complainant,
-versus-

for

GLORIA ATTABAN,
VIOLATION OF R.A. 7610
Accused.
x--------------------------------------x

REPLY

(with ENTRY OF APPEARANCE)

PRIVATE COMPLAINANT, through the
counsel, most respectfully alleges the following:

undersigned

PREFATORY STATEMENT
In prose and poetry, the depth of a mother's love has been
immortalized times without number, finding as it does, its
justification, not in fantasy but in reality.1
PARTIES
Private Complainant VANESSA SIBBALUCA, of legal age,
married, Filipino citizen, and a resident of Cusipag Street,
Linao East, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, where it may be served
with summons and other court processes;
-and-

1 Perez v. CA, GR No. 118870, March 29, 1996

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Accused GLORIA ATTABAN, is of legal age, Filipino

citizen, and a resident of resident of Cusipag Street, Linao
East, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, where it may be served with
summons and other court processes;

1. Complainant admits only insofar as to accused

personal circumstances and, among others (Paragraph
1), specifically denies ALL of the contents of accused
Counter-Affidavit for lack of knowledge or information
sufficient to form a belief as to the truth contained
therein and for the reason that the said CounterAffidavit is nothing but an incarnation of sophistry,
embroidered and tinted with lies. In contradiction to all
the allegations made by the accused in her CounterAffidavit, the following are provided to make it a crystal
clear that indeed she is guilty of the charge I filed
against him, to wit:
a. Contrary to what respondent has alleged, mother
of the private complainant has never physically
assaulted the accused, it was her who attacked
her and even to the extent of involving the
innocent child who was then in the arms of her
grandmother.
b. The incident took place (as evidenced by the
Medico-Legal Certificate) only that due to
nervousness and feeling tense the very moment
they reported the incident to the Tuguegarao City
Police Station what was erroneously reflected as the
date of incident is August 1, 2014 instead of July
31, 2014;
For the rectification of the erroneous date
that has been reflected and relied upon
and to shed light upon the matter, a copy
of the Affidavit of the private complainant
and a Certification issued by the
Tuguegarao City Police Station are hereto
attached.
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c. Neither did the mother of the private complainant

DARNETTE CAGURANGAN speak of the lines as
alleged by the accused in her counter-affidavit;
d. To belie the allegations made by the accused as they
are a clear concocted and crafted story, the very
truth of the matter is as follows and, to wit:
On the date of incident, July 31, 2014, at
around 4:00 in the afternoon, while the
mother of the private complainant (Darnette
Cagurangan) was walking and while her
granddaughter was in her arms, accused came
near her and uttered unsavory words against
her.
The accused flared up as she was
bringing up the issue which involves her
monetary obligation which is indeed existent.
While in passing, the accused uttered, to wit:
UKINAM PATAYAN TAKU MASKI CIS YO
ATAWAM MARI TAKAYU ITALAW. ILALAGOM YO
ATAWAM" Speaking ill against her and even to
the extent of involving the formers husband
and coupled the same with threat to kill them.
Thereafter, she grabbed the right shoulder of
Darnette. While in evasion and in protection of
her granddaughter, the accused grabbed also
the child in her grandmothers arms causing
the child and her grandmother t fall on the
ground.
Upon hearing of the commotions from the
outside, the herein private complainant
immediately went to the place of origin of the
commotion and thereon saw her daughter on
the fallen position on the pavement crying with
the abrasions on her body and noticed also the
reddish color on her body.

Annette Pamittan, Jacky Uberita came to

the rescue of Darnette. Junior Narag, one of
the Brgy. Counselors, came and pacified them
and even told to the herein accused, to wit:
KUSTU KU ANTI YAN NIN, MATTALUNG KA
KANG BALE NUN, MABBABAKAT KAN.
After being told to go home and not make
any commotion anymore, while the private
complainant and company are heading home,
the accused immediately open their gate with a
bamboo stick with sharp pointed wire
(patukkal) on her hand and uttered MASKI
MAKAPATAY NAK SANGAW NGA ALGAW NGIN
That on that very juncture, with her
threat and want to kill and killing tendencies,
the private complainant, Vanessa and Annette,
hold the pointed object she was the holding.
The pointed object was even surrendered
before the Office of the Barangay Chairman.
e. With respect to the corroboration made by Hilaria
Aquino and as stated also in the Paragraph 12 of the
accused Counter-Affidavit, supporting that she came to
her rescue from the hands of Darnette, it is funny to
know that line of thought considering that Hilaria was
not around on that day making it implausible for her to
actually and physically extend a help. It is a principle of
law that any evidence, whether oral or documentary,
is hearsay if its probative value is not based on the
personal knowledge of the witness but on the
knowledge of some other person not in the witness
stand (Philippine Home Assurance Corporation v.
Court of Appeals, 257 SCRA 468). Glaring is the fact
that the herein accused is trying to create their own
version of the incident empty-handed. In People v.
Dones, 254 SCRA 696, it was made clear by the court
that Corroborative evidence in defense of an
accused, if tainted with bias, weakens his defense.
The same kind of argumentation has no probative value
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neither evidentiary weight to overcome the presumption

of law that positive identification prevails over
denials and alibis. It can also be gleaned from her

affidavit that she cannot be a credible witness as

shown by the inconsistency made by her as to the
date of incident specifically in paragraph 2, this will
suffice to picture out that indeed she has neither
have a personal knowledge nor witnessed the very
happening of the incident. The affidavit of Hilaria is
self-serving and immaterial and irrelevant and
replete with inconsistencies vis--vis the counteraffidavit of herein accused.

f. If there is a witness who can attest with the veracity

of the incident, it is Sinon Balisi who was indeed
there and saw Gloria slapped and kicked the private
complainants mother. She omitted the existence of
Sinon in the succeeding paragraphs of her
narration whom as alleged by her was there from
the very beginning of the incident.
g. It was admitted by the accused herself that Brgy.
Councilor came to them and pacified them but it
can be drawn out that she cut off her line by not
including therein the very words of the Brgy.
Councilor .mabbabakat kan which is indicative
that she is the one who is aggressive in pursuing
the fight.
h. Paragraph 14 is also a sheer portion of the accused
litany of lies for Jacky and Annette did not wrestle
the herein accused as alleged by her but instead
they came to the aid of Darnette and her
granddaughter.
i. In fact, the said incident was reported to the
Barangay Chairman and as the latters recourse of
action upon the matter, the Barangay Chairman
called her before his office but she never showed up
and just turned in deaf ears.

j. If indeed she has the claim of being physically

assaulted as she alleged in her counter-affidavit why
it took her more than eight (8) months to render her
counter-affidavit. It is of bizarre to human reactions
not to refute charges hurled against her and make
her stand the very instant she was made and
directed to take her stand. At all cost human by
nature will defend himself of things that are not
really true (In fact, the subpoenas was sent to her
for to her were received by her )
k. She personally and willfully went out to her house a
Bamboo stick with a pointed iron tip and gave her
threats against me, it is enough for a prudent man to
believe that the same manifests her great perversity
to commit crime and violence.

2. In addition thereto, the Undersgined, unto this Honorable

Office, most respectfully enters its appearance as counsel
for complainant Vanessa Sibbaluca. Henceforth, notices,
motions, and pleadings issued and filed in connection
with the above-entitled case be furnished in the address
stated below.
PRAYER
PREMISES CONSIDERED, it is most respectfully prayed
unto the Honorable Office to give due course to this Reply by
RENDERING Resolution finding probable cause against herein
respondent and to kindly note this entry of appearance.
Other reliefs, which are just and equitable are likewise
prayed for.
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. May 21, 2015.
By:

ATTY. DENNIS C. SAQUING

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Counsel for the Complainant

Roll no. __________
IBP NO. 958856/03-14-14/Puerto Princesa City
PTR NO. 870274/04-01-14/Province of Cagayan
MCLE Exempt per MCLE Governing Board Order No. 1
Series of 2008 (Date of Admission: 04-25-13)
Copy furnished:
MS. GLORIA ATTABAN
Cusipag Street, Linao East
Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
SIR:
This is a notice that the foregoing is submitted
immediately to this Honorable Office for immediate
consideration.

ATTY. DENNIS C. SAQUING

EXPLANATION
A copy of the foregoing was sent to Ms. Gloria Attaban
through registered mail due to distance and absence of a
personal messenger.
ATTY. DENNIS C. SAQUING