REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURT

X x x CITY
BRANCH x x x
X x x,
Plaintif
Civil Case No. xxx
Versus
Unlawful Detainer
Xx x, etc.,
Defendants.
x---------------------------------x
ANSW ER
(In re: Summons, Received on
xxx 2011)

as to the veracity or falsity of the alleged amounts of

attorneys fees agreed upon between the plaintif 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.
II.

SPECIAL AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

5.
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 plaintif. (See Annex A, Par. 3,
Complaint).
6. The plaintif is not the owner in fee simple of the
subject property, contrary to her allegation in Par. 3 of
the Complaint.

The DEFENDANT xxx, by counsel, respectfully states:

I.

ANSWER

1.
Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Complaint are
admitted.
2. 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 plaintif.
3.

Paragraphs 7 to 9 of the Complaint are admitted.

4. Paragraph 10 of the Complaint is denied for lack of

knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief

7.
The alleged Deed of Conditional Sale between the
GSIS and the plaintif 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).
8. Although the GSIS has given the plaintif the right
of possession of the property under Par. 4 of the
Deed of Conditional Sale (Annex B, Par. 4,
Complaint), the plaintif 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.
9. 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
plaintif when she investigated the background
property until the time she closed her purchase thereof
with the GSIS. There is no proof that plaintif 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 plaintif. It did not issue any formal notice
to the defendant or the xxx Family about the
impending attempt of the plaintif to purchase the
property. Had the xxx Family been notified thereon,
they would have taken urgent steps to acquire the
same instead of the plaintif.
10.
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.
11. The defendant had answered the demanded
letter, dated xxx 2011, of the plaintif through a letter,
dated xxx 2011, of defendants counsel, a copy of
which is attached as Annex 4hereof. It requested
plaintifs 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 plaintif.

12.GSIS is an (if not the) indispensable party in the

suit being theregistered owner in fee simple of the
subject property. The ownership rights of plaintif
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 plaintif to sue
the defendant in behalf of the GSIS in the instant case.
III.

COMPULSORY COUNTERCLAIM

13.By reason of the abuse of right committed by the

plaintif 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;
14.Similarly, the plaintifs unfounded suit has caused
the defendant mental anguish and sufering and public
humiliation and embarrassment, for which the
defendant claims moral damages of P100,000.00.
IV.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully

prayed that the parties be given ample time to reach
an amicable settlement before the xxxCity 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

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

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

Doc. No. ____

Page No. ____
Book No. ____
Series of 2011
Cc

Atty. Xxx
Counsel for Plaintif
xxx Rm. xxx
xxx Bldg.
Brgy. xxx, xxx City
Metro Manila
Reg. Rec. No.
Date

PO

EXPLANATION

due to the distance of his law office address and the

lack of field staf of undersigned counsel at this time.

A copy of this pleading is served via registered mail,

instead of via personal service, on the adverse counsel

MANUEL J. LASERNA JR.