REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

11th Judicial Region
Branch ______
City of Tacloban

CHLOE MARIELLE DE LA CRUZ,

Plaintiffs,
-versus- CIVIL CASE No. _______
FOR: Quieting of Title with
Temporary Restraining
Order and Preliminary
Injunction

ASHTON PAMINTUAN,
Defendant.
x-----------------------------------x
PRE-TRIAL BRIEF
PLAINTIFF, by counsel, to the Honorable Court, respectfully
submits its pre-trial brief as follows:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Art. 1309 of the Civil code provides that: "The following contracts are
voidable or annullable, even though there may have been no damage to the
contracting parties:

(1.) Those where one of the parties is incapable of giving consent to

a contract;

(2.) Those where the consent is vitiated by mistake, violence,

intimidation, undue influence or fraud;

These contracts are binding, unless they are annulled by a proper

action in court. They are susceptible of ratification.

Sec. 2, R.A. No. 10572 amending Art. 111 of the Family Code provides that:

Art. 111. Either spouse may mortgage, encumber, alienate or

otherwise dispose of his or her exclusive property.

Plaintiff is the sole heir and successor-in-interest of the late Julia de la

Cruz, who died intestate on 6 March 2012;
 Sometime in year 2008, Defendant, who is a long time friend of Julia
de la Cruz, came to the residence of the said Julia de la Cruz requesting to
borrow Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 10070 owned by the latter to
secure various personal loan obligations from a certain Edelyn Cadiz in the
aggregate amount of P700,000.00;

Touched with compassionate heart for her long-time friend who is in

need, Julia de la Cruz lent the aforesaid TCT NO. 10070 upon assurance
from the Defendant that the mortgage would be for a brief period only and
that he would forthwith pay and settle in full all his personal loan obligations
with Edelyn Cadiz to ensure that said mortgage is cancelled in the soonest
time possible;

During the effectivity of the Real Estate Mortgage, Plaintiff and Julia
de la Cruz migrated in the United States of America to treat the worsening
health condition of the latter;

Sometime in 2010, Julia de la Cruz received a letter from the

Defendant informing the former that he had finally settled in full all his
personal loan obligations with Edelyn Cadiz and the mortgage is already
cancelled however, Defendant failed to send the Transfer Certificate of Title
(TCT) No. 10070 together with the said letter;

Since then, nothing was heard of the Defendant and the whereabouts
of Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 10070 up until the demise of Julia
de la Cruz where Plaintiff returned to the Philippines in 2014 where she
inquired with the Civil Registry of Deeds of Tacloban City as to the status of
Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 10070;

Plaintiff was surprised to know that Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT)

No. 10070 had become the subject of a Deed of Conditional Sale with the
Defendant in 2011;

Julia de la Cruz, during her lifetime, never mentioned to her only heir
Plaintiff, that the property was subject of sale;

Plaintiff immediately scheduled a meeting with Defendant wherein

the latter gave her a copy of the Deed of Conditional Sale and other
pertinent documents to which Plaintiff noticed that the aforesaid documents
suffer with lots of irregularities especially with the signature of Julia de la
Cruz;

When Plaintiff checked the property, she found out that a construction
is on-going to fence the property;

The assessed value of the land is P1,500,000;

 Needless to say, all the aforesaid dealings, transactions and
proceedings concerning the subject property were fraudulent and highly
anomalous;

POSSIBILITY OF AMICABLE SETTLEMENT

Plaintiff values and respected much the friendship shared by her

mother and the Defendant. Over the years, said friendship had grown to
include each of their own family. It is of paramount interest of the Plaintiff
to amicably settle the case.

PROPOSED STIPULATION OF FACTS AND/OR ADMISSION OF

FACTS

1.) That the Defendant is not the legal owner of the subject property and
acknowledge the ownership of it by his friend, Julia de la Cruz.

2.) That the Defendant borrowed the said TCT No. 10070 from the
Plaintiff's deceased mother to secure Defendant's various personal
loans from an Edelyn Cadiz and for no other purpose.

3.) That the Defendant acknowledge Plaintiff as the sole heir and
successor-in-interest of the deceased Julia de la Cruz.

4.) That the Defendant acknowledge the existence of his letter to Julia de
la Cruz, marked as Exhibit D, informing the latter that he had already
fully settled all his personal loan obligations with said Edelyn Cadiz
and that the mortgage is already cancelled.

ISSUES TO BE TRIED OR RESOLVED

1.) Whether or not the signature of Julia de la Cruz appearing on

the contract of Deed of Conditional Sale was genuine.

2.) Whether or not the contract of Deed of Conditional Sale was

valid.

EXHIBITS MARKED AS DOCUMENTS TO BE PRESENTED

The following documents are to be presented:

Exhibit A - A copy of the Birth Certificate of the Plaintiff

Exhibit B - A copy of the Death Certificate of Julia de la Cruz

Exhibit C - A copy of the Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 10070
bearing the name of Julia de la Cruz as the
registered owner
Exhibit D - A copy of the letter executed by the Defendant to the
Plaintiff

Exhibit E - A copy of the Deed of Conditional Sale purportedly

executed by Julia de la Cruz and Ashton Pamintuan

Exhibit F - A copy of the marriage certificate of Julia de la Cruz

Exhibit G - The Judicial Affidavit of the Plaintiff

Exhibit H - the Judicial affidavit of Edelyn Cadiz

WITNESSES TO BE PRESENTED

1.) The Plaintiff himself - to testify that she had no knowledge of

such sale between Julia de la Cruz and Ashton Pamintuan;

2.) Edelyn Cadiz - to testify that the Defendant used as security

TCT No. 100701 for various personal loans of the Defendant
and that in 2010, said loans had been paid in full.

3.) Defendant reserves the right to present other witnesses not

herein enumerated as deemed necessary.

The testimonies of the witnesses would not consume more than

15 minutes on cross examination.

DATES OF HEARING

The Plaintiff would depend upon the dates agreed upon during
the pre-trial.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

Tacloban City.

20 January 2016.

Molvizar, Pacala, and Petilla Law Office

2nd Flr BPI Bldg
cor. J. Romualdez del Pilar Sts.,
Tacloban City

By:
 ATTY. JENNIFER A. MOLVIZAR
Counsel for the Plaintiff
PTR No. 1326618 01/02/2013
IBP No. 884305 12/20/2012
Roll No. 57384
MCLE No. III-0019301
Date Issued: 10/10/2012

ATTY. MARY IVY M. PACALA

Counsel for the Plaintiff
PTR No. 1326619 01/02/2013
IBP No. 884306 12/20/2012
Roll No. 57385
MCLE No. III-0019302
Date Issued: 10/1/2014

ATTY. IMEE A. PETILLA

Counsel for the Plaintiff
PTR No. 1326620 01/02/2013
IBP No. 884307 12/20/2012
Roll No. 57386
MCLE No. III-0019303
Date Issued: 09/1/2013

Copy Furnished by personal service:

Leonida, Marques, and Montallana Law Office

2nd Flr. Leonida Bldg.
Cor. Real and Imelda Avenida Sts.
Tacloban City

Received by: Date:

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