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)

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 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.

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 4 hereof. 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 the registered
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 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 Plaintif
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 staf of undersigned counsel at this time.

MANUEL J. LASERNA JR.