REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURT

X x x CITY
BRANCH x x x
X x x,
Plaintiff
Civil Case No.
xxx
[if !supportLists][endif]Versus
Unlawful Detainer
Xx x, etc.,
Defendants.
x---------------------------------x
ANSW ER
(In re: Summons, Received on
xxx 2011)
The DEFENDANT xxx, by counsel, respectfully states:
[if !supportLists]I.
[if !supportLists]1.

[endif]ANSWER

[endif]Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Complaint are

admitted.

[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Paragraphs 2 to 6 of the Complaint are

denied for lack of knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief
as to the veracity or falsity thereof, the allegations therein being
matters known only to, and are within the control only, of the plaintiff.
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Paragraphs 7 to 9 of the Complaint are
admitted.
[if !supportLists]4. [endif]Paragraph 10 of the Complaint is denied for
lack of knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief as to the
veracity or falsity of the alleged amounts of attorneys fees agreed
upon between the plaintiff and her lawyer. The said paragraph is
likewise denied insofar as it alleges that the defendant has no basis
or justification to occupy the subject property, the truth being those
alleged in the special and affirmative defenses part hereinbelow.
[if !supportLists]II.

[endif]SPECIAL AND AFFIRMATIVE

DEFENSES

[if !supportLists]5. [endif]The title to and ownership in fee simple

over the subject property is in the name of the Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS), its registered owner, and not the plaintiff.
(See Annex A, Par. 3, Complaint).

[if !supportLists]6. [endif]The plaintiff is not the owner in fee simple

of the subject property, contrary to her allegation in Par. 3 of the
Complaint.
[if !supportLists]7. [endif]The alleged Deed of Conditional Sale
between the GSIS and the plaintiff is not annotated on the title on the
property. (See dorsal side of the title of the property, marked as
Annex A, Par. 3, Complaint).
[if !supportLists]8. [endif]Although the GSIS has given the plaintiff
the right of possession of the property under Par. 4 of the Deed of
Conditional Sale (Annex B, Par. 4, Complaint), the plaintiff knew or
was supposed to know or was deemed by law to be obligated to
know and to investigate the fact that at the time of her purchase of
the property, the xxx Family were in possession of the property and
that it had a vested, beneficial and equitable right thereto by reason
of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) executed in 1975 between its
original purchaser xxx, represented by xxx, on the one hand, and the
matriarch of the xxx Family, i.e., xxx, on the other.
A copy of the said MOA is attached as Annex 1.
A copy of the Special Power of Attorney of xxx (1974) is attached as
Annex 2 hereof.
[if !supportLists]9. [endif]Since 1975 up to the present time, the xxx
Family has been in possession of the subject property by reason of
the said MOA. This fact was known to plaintiff when she investigated
the background property until the time she closed her purchase
thereof with the GSIS. There is no proof that plaintiff had reported the
real situation of the property to the GSIS for a solution or amicable
settlement between the parties prior to her purchase thereof.
Likewise, the GSIS did not send any investigator to investigate the
situation of the property prior to and at the time of its sale to the
plaintiff. It did not issue any formal notice to the defendant or the xxx
Family about the impending attempt of the plaintiff to purchase the
property. Had the xxx Family been notified thereon, they would have
taken urgent steps to acquire the same instead of the plaintiff.
[if !supportLists]10.
[endif]In 2002, Sps. xxx, the parents of the
herein defendant xxx, executed a Special Power of Attorney in favor
of the herein defendant, a copy of which is marked as Annex 3
hereof.
[if !supportLists]11. [endif]The defendant had answered the
demanded letter, dated xxx 2011, of the plaintiff through a letter,
dated xxx 2011, of defendants counsel, a copy of which is attached
as Annex 4 hereof. It requested plaintiffs lawyer for a special
conference to discuss a serious extrajudicial compromise, without
admission of guilt on the part of the defendant. It was not formally
answered by the plaintiff.
[if !supportLists]12.[endif]GSIS is an (if not the) indispensable party
in the suit being the registered owner in fee simple of the subject

property. The ownership rights of plaintiff under her unannotated

Deed of Conditional Sale with the GSIS are merely inchoate and
contingent. The Complaint shows no Board Resolution from the
Board of Trustees of the GSIS empowering the plaintiff to sue the
defendant in behalf of the GSIS in the instant case.
[if !supportLists]III.

[endif]COMPULSORY COUNTERCLAIM

[if !supportLists]13.[endif]By reason of the abuse of right committed

by the plaintiff and by reason of the instant precipitate and
unfounded suit, the defendant was constrained to hire the services of
a lawyer to defend his rights and interests for a professional fee of
P20,000.00 plus P3,000.00 per court appearance;
[if !supportLists]14.[endif]Similarly, the plaintiffs unfounded suit has
caused the defendant mental anguish and suffering and public
humiliation and embarrassment, for which the defendant claims moral
damages of P100,000.00.
[if !supportLists]IV.

[endif]PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed that the

parties be given ample time to reach an amicable settlement before
the xxx City Mediation Center; and that in case of a failure thereof,
and after trial, the complaint be dismissed for lack of merit and the
defendants compulsory counterclaim be granted, i.e.. attorneys fees
of P20,000.00 plus moral damages of P100,000.00, plus costs of suit.
The defendant respectfully prays for such and other reliefs as may be
deemed just and equitable in the premises.
xxx City, xxx 2011.
LASERNA CUEVA-MERCADER LAW OFFICES
Counsel for Defendant xxx
Unit 15, Star Arcade, C.V Starr Avenue
Philamlife Village, Las Pinas City 1740
MANUEL J. LASERNA JR.
Xxx
VERIFICATION
AND
ANTI-FORUM SHOPPINFG CERTIFICATION
I, xxx, of legal age, married, Filipino, and with postal address
c/o xxx, Barangay xxx, xxx Village, xxx, xxx City, under oath, depose:
I am the defendant in the foregoing case; that I caused the
preparation of the foregoing Answer; that I have read its contents;
and that the same are true and correct of my own direct, personal
knowledge.

Further, pursuant to Rule 7 of the 1997 Rules of Civil

Procedure and existing Supreme Court circulars, I hereby certify that
I have not heretofore commenced any other action or proceeding
involving the same issues in the Supreme Court, the Court of
Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; that to the best of my
knowledge, no such action or proceeding is pending in the Supreme
Court, the Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; and that
if I should hereafter learn that other similar or related actions or
proceedings has been filed or is pending before the Supreme Court,
the Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency, I undertake to
report that fact within five (5) days therefrom to this court.
xxx City, xxx 2011.
Xxx
Affiant/Defendant
SSS Member ID No.
xxx
Issued on xxx 1975
SUBSCRIBED and sworn to before me in xxx City on xxx 2011,
the affiant showing his SSS Member ID Card as stated above as
competent proof of his identity.

NOTARY PUBLIC
Doc. No. ____
Page No. ____
Book No. ____
Series of 2011
Cc
Atty. Xxx
Counsel for Plaintiff
xxx Rm. xxx
xxx Bldg.
Brgy. xxx, xxx City
Metro Manila
Reg. Rec. No.
Date

PO

EXPLANATION
A copy of this pleading is served via registered mail, instead of
via personal service, on the adverse counsel due to the distance of

his law office address and the lack of field staff of undersigned
counsel at this time.
MANUEL J. LASERNA JR.