Republic of the Philippines

Regional Trial Court

________________
_______________
Branch ___

MRS. BAKKET N. BACNANG,

petitioner,
- versus - CIVIL CASE NO. ________
TIYA BACNANG,
respondent.

FORMAL OFFER:

1. _________________________________________.

2. _________________________________________.

3. _________________________________________.

4. _________________________________________.

5. _________________________________________.

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF ______________________ Page __ of __ pages

 JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF
PETITIONER MRS. BAKKET N. BACNANG

I, Mrs. Bakket N. Bacnang, of legal age, married, and living at

_________( Mrs. Bakket N. Bacnang’s address)__________,
petitioner in this case, state under oath as follows:

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

The person examining me is Atty. Carr A. Pangabac with address at

___________________. The examination is being held at the same
address. I am answering his questions fully conscious that I do so
under oath and may face criminal liability for false testimony and
perjury.

Q1: Do you know Tatay Bacnang, the predecessor of the plaintiffs in

this instant case?
A1: Yes, sir, I do. He is my father and I am one of his heirs.

Q2: What about the defendant Tiya Bacnang and Insan B. Apilyedo,
do you know them?

A2: Yes, sir. Tiya is my Aunt being the sister of my late father and
Insan is my cousin, since she is my father's niece by a sister of
half-blood.

Q3: What about Lolo Bacnang, do you know him?

A3: He is my grandfather, but I did not come to know him since he
died in 1958, before I was born. I became familiar with his
name because I was brought up by my grandmother, Lelang,
and spent most of my childhood years in their houses.

Q4: How many children did Lolo and Lelang Bacnang have, Ms.
Witness?
A4: Only two sir. My father and my Aunt Tiya. My grandfather and
children by a first marriage though.

Q5: You earlier stated that your grandfather was already deceased
when you were born. What properties, if any, did he leave
behind?
A5: As far as I know, he left and land in Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi
and a cemetery lot, sir.

Q6: This land Turtle Islands that you said your grandfather left, how
big is it?

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A6: Two parcels of land, sir, more or less 250 square meters each.
They are adjacent to each other so that the area of the entire
land is 500 square meters.

Q7: Who were occupying the property at the time your grandmother
was alive?
A7: My grandmother and my father, sir. It was like a compound, sir.
There were three houses built. One house is occupied by my
grandmother, one occupied by my father and our family, one
which used to be occupied by Insan Apilyedo's family. When I
was born, that was already the set up.

Q8: Who lived with your grandmother in the house occupied by her?
A8: For a time, Tiya lived with her, but in 1979 she left for Europe to
work. I was also staying with my grandmother, most of the time.
I was her youngest granddaughter.

Q9: You said Tiya left for Europe to work, sometime in 1979. When
did she return, if she did?
A9: She returned to the Philippines in the year 1989, but left again
for Europe in the same year. In 1995, she came back for good.

Q10: Where were you at that time that your Aunt Tiya went back to
the Philippines for good, as you said, in 1995?

A10: I was living with my grandmother in her house, but when my

Aunt came back, I moved back to my father's house, which was
in the same compound.

Q11: What was the reason that your Aunt came back to the
Philippines on that year?

A11: I don't really know what happened to her in Europe for her to
come back in that year. But when she came back in the
Philippines, she talked to my father about the selling of property
in Turtle Islands, sir.

Q12: What property is that?

A12: The same property left behind by my grandmother, sir. My
father told me that my Aunt Tiya wanted to sell the 250 square
meters lot, as well as her portion of 125 square meters of the
other lot.

Q13: What was your reaction when your father told you about those
plans?
A13: I told him not to give his consent to the sale of the property, but
the property was sold anyway.

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Q14: What area of the property was sold, if you know?
A14: The other lot of 250 square meters, and then the 125 square
meter portion of 250 square meter lot on which my father's
house is built, Sir.

Q15: Where was your grandmother at that time?

A15: She was still there in her house, she was still alive?

Q16: What did she say about the sale, if she said anything at all?
A16: As far back as I can remember, it is Aunt Tiya's decision which
always prevailed because she was the breadwinner. My
grandmother at that time, was already sickly and her eyes was
bad. I don't known if she even realized what was going on at
that time.

Q17: What about your father, what did he say to you in connection
with the sale of the property, if he said anything?

A17: My father told me that, he asked Aunt Tiya to leave 180 square
meters as his share, and she could sell rest of the property, but
Aunt Tiya only consented to giving him 125 square meters of
the other lot, sir. My father was a generous man, he did not like
the idea of siblings fighting over property, so he left it at that.

Q18: You earlier said, that aside from the two lots equivalent to a
total area of 500 square meters, your grandfather also left a
cemetery plot. When these transactions over property were
happening, what happened to the cemetery lot?

A18: At that time, the right over the cemetery lot left by my
grandfather was not part of their discussions, sir. So, what we
all knew was that, it remained with the family. When my
grandmother died in the year 1999, she was buried there.

Q19: After your grandmother died, what happened to the properties

left by your grandfather?
A19: As I have earlier said, Aunt Tiya was able to sell 350 square
meters of the residential lot in Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi to a
person identified as Isuna D. Macaputot, and after my
grandmother died, there was a series of cases over the said
property. About the cemetery lot, it was only in the year 2005
when something suspicious occurred.

Q20: What was the suspicious occurrence?

A20: Insan's estranged husband, Bayaw, died sometime in the year
2005. One of our neighbors informed us that the remains of
Bayaw was buried in the cemetery lot belonging to a family. My
mother was alarmed and my father was also quite shocked. He

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF ______________________ Page __ of __ pages

 remarked that, that was too much already, that he did not mind
if relatives were buried there, but Bayaw is not a relative. As far
as I know, my father intended to confront Aunt Tiya about the
matter.

Q21: What happened next in relation to that property?

A21: The only time when discussion over the cemetery lot resurfaced
was when my father died.

Q22: When did your father pass away, Ms. Witness?

A22: On December 23, 2012.

Q23: You said there was discussion over the property at that time.
What was the discussion about?
A23: You see, we have been confident that the cemetery lot was
intact, and so we were not looking for any other burial plot for
the interment of my father's remains; we wanted him to be
buried there, along with his parents. But it was only two days
before the scheduled interment when we came to learn that the
cemetery lot had been sold by Aunt Tiya to Insan.

Q24: How did you find out?

A24: Aunt Tiya was then living at my sister Ateko's house in
Novaliches. My sister is staying abroad, and so she allowed
Aunt Tiya to stay there in her house. When she went home, to
attend my father's interment, she first unloaded her baggage at
her house, and at the same time, fetched Aunt Tiya, so that
together they could go to my father's wake. Along the way to
Turtle Islands, my sister Ateko mentioned that my father will be
buried at the family cemetery lot in Tawi-Tawi. It was only then
that Aunt Tiya blurted out that it was not possible, since she
already sold the cemetery lot to Insan.

Q25: What was the reaction of your sister, if you know?

A25: Of course, my sister was shocked and very angry. According to
her, she was so angry that she just left Aunt Tiya somewhere
along the way and did not take her to my father's wake. The
moment she arrived at the wake, my sister informed us of the
very bad news. She asked me to tell Maysa (Maysa Met A.
Bacnang) to look for a plot where we could bury our father.
Because of the short time, I panicked, where on earth can we
find a plot on such short notice?

Q26: What happened next?

A26: At about 7:11 that night, Aunt Tiya, together with cousin Insan
and members of her family attended my father's wake. We were
wary, but remain civil, out of respect for my father. We did not
want trouble to mar his memory in front of other people. After

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF ______________________ Page __ of __ pages

 Aunt Tiya and Insan left, later, that night, to solve the problem
that we were facing at that time, my sister Ateko decided to talk
to Insan about the cemetery lot, so that she would give back the
lot to us, and allow our father to be buried there. So Sister
Ateko, Kuyako and I proceeded to Insan's house. Insan did not
agree to our request.

Q27: What did you do then?

A27: We were so devastated. We were still grieving for our father,
and grief turned to panic because we had nowhere to bury his
remains. Luckily, a friend of mine, Gayem Co, recommended a
cemetery in Ninja, Turtle Island, Tawi-Tawi. We made
arrangement at once to get a plot there.

Q28: What expenses did you incur, if any, in getting that cemetery
plot?
A28: We leased the plot for five (5) years at Fifty Five Thousand
Pesos (Php 55,000.00). After five (5) years, we need to pay the
rental again.

Q29: When was your father interred?

A29: December 26, 2012.

Q30: After that, what happened next to the discussion over the
cemetery plot?
A30: We let a few months to pass, to give respect to my father's
dismiss and to appease our grief. When we were all level
headed enough, we all decided to fight for our father’s right to
the cemetery lot.

Q31: You earlier said that your Aunt Tiya lived in your sister Ateko's
house in Blue, Turtle Islands before the discussion over the
cemetery lot transpired. What became of that?
A31: My sister was so hurt over aunt Tiya's actions that she never let
Aunt Tiya in her house again, much less restore Aunt Tiya in
her confidence as caretaker of her house.

Q32: In connection with the decision to fight for your father's right to
the cemetery lot, what steps did you take?
A32: We first, filed a complaint before the barangay. When that
proved futile, we searched for the records of the alleged sale.

Q33: What was the result of your search?

A33: We were able to get copies of two documents which were on
file with the City Hall Office, one is an affidavit allegedly
executed by my grandmother Lelang and another a deed of
assignment executed by Aunt Tiya in favor of Insan.

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF ______________________ Page __ of __ pages

Q34: If those documents are shown to you, will you be able to
recognize them?
A34: Yes

Q35: This affidavit which you identified contains a thumbmark on top

of the name of Lelang Bacnang. What can you say about this
thumbmark?
A35: Since I lived with my grandmother and she was the one who
practically raised me up, I do not believe that she would have
affixed her thumbmark voluntarily on that document. First, at
that time, although my grandmother was hardly ambulatory, she
could still sign her name. If she intended to acquiesce to a
document, she would sign her name, not just affix her
thumbmark. Also, I do not believe she could have appeared
before the notary public.

Q36: What can you say about the contents of the affidavit?
A36: Well, I know my grandmother, she is very close to me. If she
intended to give the ownership of the lot only to Tiya, she would
have told me. The cemetery lot is the burial ground of my late
grandfather, she would not think of disinheriting my father or
any of the members of the family from the benefits of the said
lot.

Q37: What was the effect of the actions of the defendants to you and
your family?
A37: The discovery of the defendants' acts heightened our grief,
devastated us actually, to the point we suffered sleepless nights
because of anguish and humiliation at the plight of our late
father who could not be buried in the family plot. To other
people, it made my father look as if he has been disinherited,
and disowned by his own kin. It hurt us so much that my father,
who had been so giving and generous in his life, would be
treated that way in his death.

Q38: If that hurt and suffering would be quantified, how much moral
damage would you ask the court to award to you and your co-
heirs?
A38: Actually, the grief, devastation, anguish and humiliation we
suffered on account of the plight of our deceased father cannot
be quantified, sir, but we are asking for moral damages of Fifty
Five Thousand Pesos (Php 55,000.00) and exemplary
damages of Fifty Five Thousand Pesos (Php 55,000.00) so that
the acts would not be repeated anymore to others, sir.

Q39: As one of the Heirs of Tatay Bacnang, what relief would you
now ask from the Honorable Court?

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF ______________________ Page __ of __ pages

A39: In behalf of my co-heirs and co-plaintiffs, I ask the court to
restore my father's right to the cemetery right, to grant our
prayers in the complaint that the Affidavit be considered without
force and effect, and the Deed of Assignment, null and void.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

_____ day of ___________ 2013 at ___________.

___________________
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME, a notary public

in and for _________(City/Province)____________ this ____th day of
____________ 20___. Affiant personally came and appeared with
_____________(Competent Evidence of Identity)______ issued by
the _________(Government Agency)______ on ___(date)__ at
________(place)_________, bearing his photograph and signature,
known to me as the same person who personally signed the
foregoing instrument before me and avowed under penalty of law to
the whole truth of the contents of said instrument.

Atty _________________________________
Notary Public
Doc. No. ____ Commission Serial No. _____________
Page No. ____ Notary Public for ___(Province/City)___
Book No. ____ Until December 31, 20__
Series of 20__ Office: ________(address)___________
Roll No. __________
IBP Lifetime Roll No. _________;
__/__/__ ; _(Province)_
PTR No. ______ ; __/__/__ ; (Province)
MCLE Compliance Cert. No. _____;
__/__/__

SWORN ATTESTATION OF THE COUNSEL/LAWYER

I, Atty. ___________________, of legal age, Filipino, with postal

address ______________________ after being duly sworn depose
and say:

1. I was the one who conducted the examination of witness

_______(name of witness)_____ at my aforementioned
office in _________(lawyer’s office address)__________;

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF ______________________ Page __ of __ pages

 2. I have faithfully recorded or caused to be recorded the
questions I asked and the corresponding answers that the
witness gave;

3. Neither I nor any other person then present or assisting

him/her coached the witness regarding his/her answers;

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

____ day of ____ 2013 at ___________.

ATTY. _________________
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME, a notary public

in and for _________(City/Province)____________ this ____th day of
____________ 20___. Affiant personally came and appeared with
_____________(Competent Evidence of Identity)______ issued by
the _________(Government Agency)______ on ___(date)__ at
________(place)_________, bearing his photograph and signature,
known to me as the same person who personally signed the
foregoing instrument before me and avowed under penalty of law to
the whole truth of the contents of said instrument.

Atty _________________________________
Notary Public
Doc. No. ____ Commission Serial No. _____________
Page No. ____ Notary Public for ___(Province/City)___
Book No. ____ Until December 31, 20__
Series of 20__ Office: ________(address)___________
Roll No. __________
IBP Lifetime Roll No. _________;
__/__/__ ; _(Province)_
PTR No. ______ ; __/__/__ ; (Province)
MCLE Compliance Cert. No. _____; __/__/__

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