Republic of the Philippines

NINTH JUDICIAL REGION

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
BRANCH _____
Zamboanga City

DAO MING SU,

Plaintiff, CIVIL CASE NO.8765

-for-
-versus-
COLLECTION OF SUM OF MONEY
WITH DAMAGES
BARBIE XU
Defendant,
x---------------------x

COMPLAINT

COMES NOW the Plaintiff, by the undersigned counsel, and unto this
Honorable Court, respectfully alleges that:

1. PLAINTIFF is of legal age, married, Filipino, a government employee, and

with residence at Block 5, Lot 2, Kalambuan Homeowners Association, Maasin,
Zamboanga City, where he may be served with court processes;

2. DEFENDANT is likewise of legal age, married, Filipino, an Engineer by

profession, and a resident of # 35 Alfaro St., Tetuan, Zamboanga City, where she
may be served with summons and other court processes;

3. Having availed of a housing loan from their employees’ cooperative and the
Government Social Insurance System (GSIS) Consolidated loan, Plaintiff decided to
spend the money he got from these loans, along with his savings over the years, to
build his family a house. This was how the Plaintiff got to know the person of the
Defendant. Being an Engineer, Defendant’s services were hired by the Plaintiff for
the construction of their one-storey residential building in Maasin, Zamboanga City;

4. Sometime in 2012, the parties entered into a contract for the construction
of the said building1, and by this agreement, the Defendant undertook to-

1 Annex A- Construction Contract dated August 28, 2012

 “[C]onstruct and furnish labor and supervision and do all works required
to complete the One-Storey Residential Building of the Owner located in
Maasin, Zamboanga City.”

5. For its part, the Plaintiff bound itself to pay the Defendant the contract
price of ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (P1,200,000.00);

6. At first, the project was doing well. The Plaintiff gave the Defendant FOUR
HUNDRED FIFTY SIX THOUSAND PESOS (P456,000.00) as initial payment. This
was followed by payment in various amounts from September to November of 2012,
totalingONE MILLIONEIGHTY THOUSAND PESOS (P1,080,000.00);

7. However, as time went by, the Plaintiff started noticing the inefficiency of
herein Defendant, and the inconsistency of her work. The project was behind
schedule, and the construction was lagging. He also noticed that there was a decline
in the quantity of construction materials being delivered on site as days progressed.
Furthermore, the construction workers were frequently absent, owing to the fact
that some of these workers also work on other projects of the Defendant. Hence, the
entire project was seriously affected;

8. After oral demands for the Defendant to make good of her promise went
unheeded, the Plaintiff took it upon himself to finish the construction of the
residential building, despite the fact that he was direly financially strained;

9. Defendant could hardly be contacted, and if ever she replied, it was either
too late or just to ask me to advance the payment for the laborers or for the
construction materials. In fact, just to be able to talk to her, Plaintiff would go to her
house in Tetuan, and more often than not, it would be for naught as she would just
apologize and give empty promises;

10. Sometime in December of 2012, Defendant texted Plaintiff to ask if the

latter could advance the payment for the construction workers, to which Plaintiff
agreed. After fetching his wife, Plaintiff went to Defendant’s house to get back the
money which he advanced. When Plaintiff got there, she was not in the house and
no one would answer. So he left the place disappointed and distraught. On his way
home, because Plaintiff was too preoccupied with thoughts of his house, he met an
accident. His right leg was fractured and had to be operated 2. He spent more than

2 Annex “B”, “B-1” and “B-2”— Medical Certificates issued Karen Cinco, M.D., dated December
22, 2012, February 7, 2013 and September 21, 2013, respectively.
EIGHTY THOUSAND PESOS (P80,000.00) for the hospitalization and operation, and
to add to this, prolonged physical pains and psychological torture;

11. Because of this predicament, the Plaintiff suffered sleepless nights,

terrible anxiety and mental anguish worrying that his retirement money had just
gone to waste, and further troubled that his dream house would be but just that- a
dream;

12. In the earlier part of 2013, Plaintiff finally decided to bring the matter to
the Office of the Punong Barangay of Tetuan for possible settlement. Failing to settle
the matter, on April 20, 2013, the said office issued a Certification to File Action 3.
But even after securing the certificate, Plaintiff was still hopeful that the issue would
be resolved outside the court, Plaintiff sought the help of the National Bureau of
Investigation, Zamboanga City;

13. After a series of talks, they have come to a settlement, and executed an
Agreement4 embodying the terms of their contract. In the said Agreement, Defendant
admitted her obligation towards herein Plaintiff at the sum of TWO HUNDRED
FIFTY EIGHT THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED NINETY NINE PESOS AND FIFTY FIVE
CENTAVOS (P258,499.50), less TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00) for the
payment made by the Defendant on June 5, 2013;

14. In the very same agreement, Defendant bound herself to pay Plaintiff the
amount due “in installment basis by paying TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000)
monthly by depositing to the bank account of [the Plaintiff] at DBPJS Alano Branch
account number 4665-3695-5005-7662”;

15. On August 11, 2013, after receiving a text message from Defendant,
Plaintiff verified that he received SIX THOUSAND PESOS (P6,000.00) through his
DBP account. This was followed by a deposit of EIGHT THOUSAND PESOS
(P8,000.00) which Plaintiff verified he received on September 30, 2013, which
totaled the partial payment made to FOURTEEN THOUSAND PESOS (P14,000.00).
However, after these, no more payment was ever made, in cash or through deposits,
even up to this time;

16. In paragraph (i)5 of the aforementioned Agreement, Defendant expressly

waived the need for demand for the collection of the monthly installment, and
3 Annex “C”- Certification to File Action dated April 20, 2013
4 Annex “D”- Agreement dated July 21, 2014
5 Annex “D-1” - paragraph (i), Agreement
having failed to pay according to the terms of the agreement, Defendant has
incurred in delay. Hence, this Complaint;

JURISDICTION OF THIS HONORABLE COURT

17. This Honorable Court has jurisdiction over the instant case being that the
demand, exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney's fees, litigation
expenses, and costs does not exceed THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS
(P300,000.00);

18. Plaintiff seeks to recover the amount of TWO HUNDRED THIRTY FOUR
THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED NINETY NINE PESOS AND FIFTY CENTAVOS
(P234,499.50), plus an interest equivalent to six percent(6%) for every month of
default, until the entire obligation is fully paid;

18. It is likewise prayed for that Plaintiff be awarded the sum of FIFTY
THOUSAND PESOS (P50,000.00) as moral damages for the sleepless night, serious
anxiety and mental anguish suffered by the Plaintiff brought about by the patent
disregard of the Defendant of her obligations, to the prejudice of the Plaintiff;

19. Plaintiff is also entitled to exemplary damages to the tune of FIFTY

THOUSAND PESOS (P50,000.00)for the wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive,
and malevolent act of the Defendant, who being an Engineer, was supposed to
uphold their profession, but instead acted in total disregard of the oath she swore
by, to the discredit of other persons in the profession;

20. Plaintiff was constrained to hire the services of a counsel to protect his
rights, and should be further awarded Attorney’s Fees and the cost of suit in the
amount of FORTY THOUSAND PESOS (P40,000.00).
PRAYER

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully prays that this Honorable Court find

Defendant liable and pay Plaintiff-

1. The sum of TWO HUNDRED THIRTY FOUR THOUSAND FOUR

HUNDRED NINETY NINE PESOS AND FIFTY CENTAVOS (P234,499.50), plus an
interest equivalent to six percent(6%) for every month of default, until the entire
obligation is fully paid;
 2. Damages in the amount of FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS (P50,000.00) as
moral damages, FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS (P50,000.00) as exemplary damages,
FORTY THOUSAND PESOS(P40,000.00) as Attorney’s Fees, and the cost of suit;

3. Other equitable relief is likewise prayed for.

City of Zamboanga, Philippines, ____ March 2013.

By:
ATTY. REMAN C. DAGOYLOY
Counsel for the Plaintiff
Roll No. 90008822
PTR No. 04999933: 1-05-2013
IBP No. 892413: 1-03-2013
Zamboanga City
MCLE Compliance No. IV-009991: 8-13-2013