Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT
Eighth (8th) Judicial Region
Municipal Trial Court in Cities
TANAUAN, LEYTE Commented [NN1]: TO CHECK HEADER

ZYRA MAE ANTIDO, CIVIL CASE NO. _______

Plaintiff,
FOR: RECOVERY OF
-versus- POSSESSION AND
OWNERSHIP OF REAL
ARDIL GEOS DADO, PROPERTY
Defendant.
x-------------------------------------------x

ANSWER
(In re: COMPLAINT, Received on December 12, 2018)
COMES NOW, the Defendant, by the undersigned counsel, and
in answer to Plaintiff’s complaint, respectfully alleges:

I. ADMISSIONS AND DENIALS

1. The Defendant admits Paragraphs 1 and 2;
2. The Defendant denies Plaintiff’s claim of ownership in
Paragraph 3, the truth being those mentioned in the special
and affirmative defenses below;
3. The Defendant denies the facts alleged in Paragraphs 4 for
being inconsistent with the documents appended as Annexes
“A” and “B” in Plaintiff’s complaint;
4. The Defendant admits Paragraph 5 as to jurisdiction of herein
action;
5. Paragraphs 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 are denied for
lack of basis to form a belief as to the truth and veracity there
being no proof shown to substantiate the same, the truth being
those mentioned in the special and affirmative defenses;

II. SPECIAL AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

6. As SPECIAL AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES, the
Defendant alleges:
LACK OF CAUSE OF ACTION AS PLAINTIFF HAS NO
TITLE OR ANY INTEREST OVER THE REAL PROPERTY
IN ISSUE

6.1. The Plaintiff alleges in the complaint that she is the true
1

owner of the parcel of land in issue as evidenced by Tax

Page
 Declaration No. 12345-67890 R12 issued by the
Municipal Assesor’s Office of the Municipality of
Tanauan, Leyte.

6.1.1. The said property was sold by the Plaintiff to Mr. Lyle
Tabaranza on July 13, 2015 as evidenced by a
certified true copy of Deed of Sale issued by the
Clerk of Court of ________, together with a
certification that the said deed of sale is one of those
notarized documents as appearing in the notarial
registry of Atty. Lorna Orense under notarial register
Doc. No. 227, Page No. 88, and Book No. III, Series
of 2015; said documents are attached herein as
Annexes “1” and “2”.
6.1.2. The same property was sold by Mr. Lyle Tabaranza
to the Defendant on January 27, 2016 as evidenced
by a certified true copy of Deed of Sale, issued by the
Clerk of Court of ________, together with a
certification that the said deed of sale is one of those
notarized documents as appearing in the notarial
registry of Atty. Juan Miguel Fernando under notarial
register Doc. No. 123, Page No. 23, and Book No. I,
Series of 2016; said documents are attached herein
as Annexes “3” and “4”.
6.1.3. That the Defendant, by virtue of a Special Power of
Attorney (SPA) granted to him by the seller, Mr. Lyle
Tabaranza, duly notarized by Atty. Juan Miguel
Fernando under notarial register Doc. No. 124, Page
No. 23 and Book No. I, Series of 2016, facilitated the
issuance of Electronic Certificate Authorizing
Registration (eCAR) of the first transaction with the
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Revenue District
Office (RDO) No. 088 – Tacloban City. Certified true
copy of the SPA and eCAR are herein attached as
Annexes “5” and “6”, respectively.
6.1.4. The first and second sale were simultaneously
processed with the BIR and the eCAR covering the
second sale in the name of the Defendant as
transferee was issued; certified true copy said eCAR
is herein attached as Annex “7”. A transfer certificate
of title was issued by the Registry of Deeds of
_______ following the issuance of eCAR, in favor of
the Defendant, thereby cancelling in full the
previously existing title in the name of the Plaintiff.
Certified Machine Copy issued by the registry of
deeds of the totally cancelled title under the name of
2

the Plaintiff with TCT No. _______ and the currently

Page

existing title under the Defendant’s name with TCT

 No. ________ are herein attached as Annexes “8”
and “9” respectively.

6.1.5. Tax Declaration is still under the name of the Plaintiff

since as of date of receipt of complaint by the
Defendant, application for change of registered
owner per Tax Declaration is still pending with the
Municipal Assessor’s Office as evidenced by a
certification issued by said office attached herein as
Annex “10”.

6.1.6. Under Section 2 of Rule ____ of the Rules of Court,

a cause of action is defined as an act or omission by
which a party violates a right of another. From the
foregoing, there appears to be no right violated since
the Plaintiff no longer has title to the property for
having sold the property to Mr. Tabaranza who, in
turn, sold the same property to the Defendant. The
mere claim of the Plaintiff over the property on the
basis of Tax Declaration is unjustifiable since it is
well-settled that a Tax Declaration is not a conclusive
proof of ownership.

BASELESS AND UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS

6.2. The following allegations are unsubstantiated or not

supported by evidentiary proofs and are therefore
baseless:
6.2.1. Deed of Sale with Waiver executed by Lyle
Tabaranza in favor of the Plaintiff as evidenced by a
copy of the Deed of Confirmation of Sale with Waiver
duly notarized by Atty. Glen De Luna under notarial
register Doc. No. 381, Page NO. 77, and Book No.
III, Series of 2016: Alleged Annex is not found. Annex
"C" is a Deed of Sale of Parcel of Land, not a Deed
of Confirmation of Sale. Moreover, no waiver of any
rights was included in the document. In addition,
Notary Public for the Deed of Sale is not Atty. Glen
De Luna but Atty. Micheal Angelo D. Santo.
6.2.2. Mortgage of the property in issue to the Defendant
on November 19, 2012: No document supporting the
alleged mortgage was presented. Without admitting
any of the facts alleged by the Plaintiff over her
ownership of property and the series of events as
alleged in the complaint, the mortgage could not
3
Page

have possibly occurred considering that the alleged

 sale to the Plaintiff by Lyle Tabaranza occurred only
in 2016 while the mortgage and the alleged tender of
payment and demands to accept payment were
made prior to the year of sale.
6.2.3. The Plaintiff alleges that the Defendant continuously
refused to accept payment of the Plaintiff and vacate
the property in issue: There are no supporting
documents presented except from hand written
certification from the Barangay units. The
certifications do not contain the Barangay seal nor
any documentary stamp tax, contrary to barangay
practice of issuing certifications.

4
Page
 PROOF OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing MOTION has been

served on ATTY. Insert atty here, counsel for the Plaintiff, at his
address insert address, by registered mail for lack of field staff of
undersigned counsel at this time.

ATTY. PIA M. ALONZO

Copy furnished:

Atty.
Tacloban

VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF NON-FORUM

SHOPPING

Republic of the Philippines )

Tacloban City ) S.S.

I, MACKY ZY LEE, of legal age, Filipino, and resident of Tadong

St., Brgy. Di Mahanap, Biringan City, after having sworn in accordance
to law, depose and say:

1. I am the defendant in the above-entitled case;

2. I have caused the preparation and the filing of this verified
Answer, and I have read and understood the allegations
contained therein, and that the same are true and correct
based on my personal knowledge and authentic records;
3. I further certify that I have not commenced any other action
involving the same issues before the Supreme Court, Court of
Appeals, or in any other Tribunal or Quasi-judicial bodies, and
should there be any other action or proceeding involving the
same issues, I shall undertake to inform the Honorable Court
within five (5) days from notice thereof.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature

this day of _______________________, in Tacloban City, Leyte.

MACKY ZY LEE
Affiant
5
Page
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to Before me, this day,
___________________, in Tacloban City, Philippines, affiant
after showing to me his Passport No. 123456 and known to me
the same persons who executed the foregoing Verification and
Certification of Non-Forum Shopping.

ATTY. ALVIN A. DIZAS

Notary Public

Doc. No.:____
Page No.:____
Book No.:____
Series of 2018

6
Page
Page 7