Republic of the Philippines

Sixth Judicial Region

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
Branch ___
Ramon Q. Avancea Hall of Justice
Iloilo City

VICTOR SOTTO,
Plaintiff,

-versus- Civil Case No. _____

For: Annulment of
Extrajudicial Settlement
of Estate and Deed of
Absolute Sale,
Cancellation of Transfer
Certificate of
TOTI SOTTO AND JOEY DE LION Title, and Recovery
of
and the REGISTER OF DEEDS OF Possession
with Damages
ILOILO PROVINCE,
Defendants.
x-------------------------------------------------x

COMPLAINT

PLAINTIFF, by counsel, respectfully states that:

1. Plaintiff is a Filipino citizen of legal age, single, and

resident of 123 MV Hechanova, Jaro, Iloilo City where he

can be served with summons and other court processes;

2. Defendant Toti Sotto is of legal age, married, and a

resident of 456 Buhang, Jaro, Iloilo City where he can be

served with summons and other court processes while

defendant Joey de Lion is of legal age, married, and a

 resident of 789 Tagbac, Jaro, Iloilo City where he can be

served with summons and other court processes;

3. Defendant Register of Deeds of Iloilo Province is a

government agency which is the repository of records

affecting properties and is tasked with registration,

cancellation, and transfer of titles thereof. Defendant

Register of Deeds may be served with summons and other

processes of this Honorable Court in the Office of the

Registry of Deeds of Iloilo Province located at Muelle

Loney, Iloilo City, Iloilo;

THE CAUSES OF ACTION

FOR ANNULMENT OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT

OF ESTATE,
ANNULMENT OF DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE,
AND CANCELLATION OF TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF

TITLE
4. The plaintiff is one of the two sons and legal heirs of the

deceased spouses JUAN SOTTO AND NIDORA SOTTO who

were the absolute owners of a parcel of land located at

Lapayon, Leganes, Iloilo containing an area of FIVE (5)

HECTARES, more or less, identified as Lot No. 1234-A, Psd-

23456, and covered under Transfer Certificate of Title No.

T-19890, copy of Transfer Certificate of Title is hereto

attached as Annex A;
5. After the death of his parents, plaintiff was already

residing and working as an engineer in Los Angeles,

California, USA for 10 years until he decided to

 permanently reside in the Philippines in July 2016 when he

discovered that abovementioned property was already

owned and possessed by another person;

6. Defendant TOTI SOTTO is the older brother of plaintiff.

Defendant TOTI SOTTO caused the extra-judicial

settlement of the intestate estate of spouses JUAN SOTTO

AND NIDORA SOTTO with waiver and renunciation of rights

on August 30, 2007 and registered it with Iloilo Province

Registry of Deeds, adjudicating the said estate unto

himself defrauding the plaintiff of his rightful share of the

property. A photocopy of such extra-judicial settlement is

appended herewith as Annex B;

7. Upon comparison of the signatures of plaintiff VICTOR

SOTTO in the aforecited extra-judicial settlement of the

intestate estate with waiver and renunciation of rights

with his signatures in two (2) other documents executed

by the plaintiff in almost the same time, blatant

differences are obvious to strengthen the belief that the

signature of the plaintiff in the extra-judicial settlement

was forged. Attached are the plaintiffs passport as Annex

C-1 and a Contract to Sell executed by the plaintiff in

year 2007 as Annex C-2;

8. That the abovementioned lot is subject of Deed of

Absolute Sale dated December 5, 2007 signed by

defendant TOTI SOTTO in favor of his brother-in-law,

 defendant JOEY DE LION. A photocopy of the deed of

absolute sale is attached as Annex D;

9. Defendant JOEY DE LION in purchasing the property from

defendant TOTI SOTTO acted in bad faith because he is

fully aware of the absence and lack of knowledge of the

plaintiff during the extra-judicial settlement. He had

contact with the latter abroad and had knowledge of facts

that should have led him to inquire with possible defects

in the title of the seller of the property and this he failed

to do;
10. On account of the Deed of Extra-judicial Settlement of

Estate executed by defendant TOTI SOTTO made with

falsified statements and forged signature of the plaintiff

and by virtue of the Deed of Absolute Sale, defendant

TOTI SOTTO successfully caused the cancellation of the

JUAN SOTTO AND NIDORA SOTTO Transfer Certificate of

Title with No. T-19890 and the issuance of Transfer

Certificate of Title No. T-670001 dated April 26, 2008 in

favor of defendant JOEY DE LION;

11. Accordingly, the new Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-

670001 in the name of JOEY DE LION declared under Tax

Declaration No. 12345678 with market value of Php

5,000,000.00 and assessed value of Php 350,000.00

was issued. The Tax Declaration is attached as Annex E;

12. These factual events fraudulently dispossessed the

plaintiff of his rightful share as a legal heir in the property

 of his deceased parents and defendant JOEY DE LION is

currently in possession of the entire subject property;

THE CAUSE OF ACTION FOR DAMAGES

13. In order to protect his rights and interest over the

parcel of land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-

670001, plaintiff was compelled to litigate and incur

expenses thereby entitling him to the award of attorneys

fees in Php 50,000.00 and Php 2,500.00 per appearance;

14. Due to the fraudulent acts committed by defendants,

plaintiff is suffering from mental anguish, fright, serious

anxiety, moral shock, and similar injuries thereby

warranting the individual award of moral damages in the

sum of Php 100,000.00 from defendants, in solidum;

15. In order to discourage those who are similarly bent

from doing such detestable acts of defendants and in

order to set an example for the public good, defendants

should be adjudged in solidum to pay the plaintiff Php

50,000.00 for exemplary damages.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is most

respectfully prayed from this Honorable Court that, after due

notice and hearing, judgment be rendered as follows:

1) ORDERING the Deed of Extra-judicial Settlement of

Estate NULL and VOID;

 2) ORDERING the cancellation of Transfer Certificate of

Title No. T-670001 for being NULL and VOID;

3) REINSTATING Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-19890;
4) ORDERING DEFENDANTS to convey ownership and

possession of the subject property to plaintiff subject

to a just and equitable partition thereof by and

between all interested parties;

5) ORDERING defendants to jointly and severally pay

plaintiff:
a) Php 50,000.00 and Php 2,500 per

appearance as and for attorneys fees;

b) Php 50,000.00 for moral damages;
c) Php 50,000.00 for exemplary damages;

and
d) Php 20,000.00 as cost of suit.

Plaintiff prays for such other reliefs and remedies that are

just and equitable under the premises.

Iloilo City, Philippines; January 3, 2017.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

ROBERT IAN MARAON

Counsel for Plaintiff
111 E. Lopez St., Jaro, Iloilo City
IBP No. 567483/1-02-15/Iloilo City
PTR No. 2345/1-03-17/Iloilo City
Roll No. 56743
MCLE Compliance No. IV-0098987/March 22, 2015
Telephone No. 033-320-0010
 VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION AGAINST FORUM
SHOPPING

I, Victor Sotto, of legal age, do hereby state that I have

caused this Complaint to be prepared; I have read its contents
and affirm that they are true and correct to the best of my own
personal knowledge; I hereby certify that there is no other case
commenced or pending before any court involving the same
parties and the same issue and that, should I learn of such a case,
I shall notify the court within five (5) days from my notice.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have signed this instrument on
January 3, 2017.

VICTOR
SOTTO
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me in the City of

Iloilo on this 3rd day January, affiant exhibiting before me his
drivers license no. F091234567 issued March 13, 2016 at LTO,
Jaro, Iloilo City.

ROBERT IAN
MARAON
Notary Public

Doc. No. 5
Page No. 11
Book No. 35
Series of 2017