Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT 7th Judicial Region Branch _____ Lapu-Lapu City SPOUCES RONNIE

C. OMPAD and ELENITA S. OMPAD Plaintiffs, -versusWILFREDO G. EVARDOME, EFREN NAVALES, REYNALDO GIPANAO and FOUR JOHN DOES Defendants, x-------------------------------------------/

ANSWER

COMES NOW Defendant Reynaldo Gipanao, by counsel and unto this Honorable Court, most respectfully states and avers that: ADMISSION

1. Defendant admits the information the information provided for by the plaintiff in paragraph 3 of the complaint;

2. Defendant partly admits the allegation contained in paragraph 6 where plaintiff offers payment to the defendant to avoid her car from being towed and defendant insisted that plaintiff should proceed to the impounding area instead for the release of her vehicle;

3. Defendant partly agrees in the allegation stated in paragraph 8. Defendant agrees that despite the plaintiffs plea that her vehicle not be towed, he and the rest of the defendants persisted in towing the plaintiffs vehicle;

4. Defendant lastly admits the information contained in paragraph 15 that since the Defendant is a public officer/ employee and the dispute relates to the performance of his

duties then it falls under the exception to the requirement of prior conciliation proceedings at the barangay level;

SPECIFIC DENIAL

5. Defendant vehemently denies the allegations contained in paragraph 5. The defendant did not take part of the towing process for it is beyond his duty, he merely cited the traffic violations made by the plaintiff that caused her car to be towed and that the latter should proceed to the impounding area for the release of her car;

6. The allegation contained in paragraph 12 of the complaint claiming that defendants acted with gross and evident bad faith and in wanton, reckless and oppressive manner is specifically denied. Defendants were merely doing their job and that they already have explained the matter to the plaintiff the traffic law she violated which resulted in the towing of her vehicle;

DENIAL FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

7. Defendant denies for lack of knowledge the information in paragraphs 2 and 4 provided for in the complaint regarding the fellow defendants. Defendant does not know who his fellow defendants are personally for they merely cross paths at the time of the said incident;

8. Defendant furthermore denies for lack of knowledge the information in paragraph 1 provided for in the complaint regarding the information of the plaintiffs. For the same reason provided for above preceding paragraph, defendant does not know the plaintiff personally;

9. Defendant lastly denies for lack of knowledge the allegations given in paragraph 8 regarding the towing equipment being defective;

AFFIRMATIVE ALLEGATIONS

10. On December 18, 2012 at around 4:40 in the afternoon, plaintiff illegally parked her car at the sidewalk in front of Cebuana Lhullier at Basak, Lapu-Lapu City near Tamiya which resulted for the defendant to issue a traffic citation ticket to the plaintiff;

11. Insofar as the liability of the Defendant is concerned, as a traffic officer of the City Traffic Management Systems (CTMS), he is not liable for damages, if any, the Towing agency concerned may have caused;

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, it is most respectfully prayed that after hearing on the merits, this Honorable Court issue an Order:

1. Dismissing the Complaint in toto for utter lack of merit;

2. Granting moral damages in favor of the Defendant in the amount of __________________________ (P_____________);

3. Granting exemplary damages in favor of the Defendant in the amount of __________________________ (P_____________);

Other reliefs just and equitable under the premises are likewise prayed for.

Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines, January 17, 2013

OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY 2nd Floor, City Hall Building, Pusok, Lapulapu City

By:

YURI BILOAN City Attorney IBP No. PTR No. Roll of Attorney No.

MICHAEL M. DIGNOS Assistant City Attorney IBP No. 821281 12/29/11 Cebu Province PTR No. 2620080 01/03/11 Lapu-lapu City Roll of Attorney No. 46722 ROLDAN M. PEPITO Legal Officer III IBP No. 823414 01/03/11 Cebu City PTR No. 2810560 01/03/11 Lapu-lapu City MCLE Compliance No. III-0012552 Roll of Attorney No. 47719 ETHELBERT B. OUANO Legal Officer II IBP No. 843619 01/11/11 Cebu City PTR No. 0847595 01/12/11 Cebu City MCLE Compliance no. II-0012836 Roll of Attorney No. 54887