REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURT

6TH JUDICIAL REGION
BRANCH 8
ILOILO CITY

NORDAN TAGIYA
Plaintiff, CIVIL CASE NO. 12-3456

-versus- FOR:
UNLAWFUL DETAINER
JOSE TAGARENTA,
Defendant
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ANSWER

COME NOW, Defendant Jose Tagarenta through the undersigned

counsel and unto this Honorable Court most respectfully state that:

1. Defendant admits Paragraph 1 insofar as the address of the Plaintiff

and is concerned. Defendant likewise admit Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 insofar as
the address of the defendant is concerned and that the Plaintiff is the
absolute owner of the subject property;

2. Defendant denies Paragraph 5, the truth of the matter being that the
defendant opted to renew the contract as evidenced by the letter sent by the
defendant to the plaintiff dated November 30, 2018, a copy of it is attached
herewith as Exhibit 1;

3. Defendant specifically denies Paragraph 6, the truth of the matter

being that the defendant religiously paid the corresponding rents to the
plaintiff’s daughter of which the latter duly acknowledged and received,
copies of which are attached herewith as Exhibits 2-A, 2-B, 2-C and 2-D;

4. Defendant denies Paragraph 7, the truth of the matter being that it is

the plaintiff who is unlawfully depriving the defendant of the enjoyment of
the subject premises;

5. Defendant denies Paragraph 8 insofar as the number of the notices

sent by the plaintiff, the truth being that the defendant was sent one demand
letter only;

6. Defendant denies Paragraphs 9-10 insofar as the narration of the facts

and the number of demand letters sent are concerned, the circumstances

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surrounding the said events are set forth in the Special and Affirmative
Defenses;

7. Defendant Admits Paragraph 11;

And by way of

SPECIAL AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

Defendant repleads and reproduces Paragraphs 1 to 7 of herein

Answer and further alleges: That

8. Defendant Jose Tagarenta initially contacted Don Spacio, a family

friend of the plaintiff herein, and a known real estate agent to inquire on
certain realties for the proposed venture of the defendant;

9. Subsequently, Mr. Spacio informed Defendant Jose Tagarenta that he

found him a place and upon his recommendation, Mr. Tagarenta entered into
a contract with Nordan Tagiya, Plantiff herein;

10. From the onset, it was the understanding of the Defendant Jose
Tagarenta (herein after Jose for brevity) that the Plaintiff Nordan Tagiya
(herein after Nordan for brevity) would give the Defendant the peaceful
enjoyment of the subject premises during the duration of the contract subject
to the condition that the Defendant shall religiously pay his dues;

11. Defendant Jose occupied the leased premises on January 1, 2018 up

to the present and religiously paid his dues as stated in the lease contract;

12. Sometime in August 2018, Plaintiff Nordan left the country for
reasons attributable to health, for that reason, Defendant Jose paid his
succeeding monthly rentals to Nordiya Tagiya, the Plaintiff’s only daughter,
to which the latter duly received and acknowledged the same;(Exhibit 2-A,
2-B, 2-C, and 2-D)

13. On November 30, 2018, Defendant Jose sent Plaintiff Nordan a letter
pursuant to paragraph 1a of the lease contract opting to renew the term for
another year;(Exhibit 1)

14. Sometime thereafter, on about December 15, 2018, upon the

Plaintiff’s return, Plaintiff Nordan informed Defendant Jose that he no
longer wish to continue giving the latter the enjoyment of the leased
premises for the reason that the Defendant defaulted in his payment;

15. On the same day, the Defendant went to the office of the daughter to
confront her with the alleged non-payment but learned that the daughter

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already parted and that the Plaintiff refused to disclose the whereabouts of
his daughter;

16. Due to the unjust refusal of the Plaintiff to accede to the Defendant’s
request to have his daughter present the payments and the Plaintiff’s refusal
without a valid cause to renew the contract, the Defendant suffered heavy
financial losses due to having lost a number of suppliers of which the
Defendant also paid interest as damages for its cancellation (Exhibits 3, 3-A,
3-B, 3-C, 4, 4-A, 4-B, 4-C, 5, 5-A, 5-B and 5-C) and because of which, the
Defendant suffered sleepless nights, mental anguish and besmirched
reputation;

17. On January 3, 2019, Defendant Jose received a demand to vacate the

premises from the Plaintiff’s counsel, thereafter, an attempt to settle the
matters amicably was pursued but to no avail;

18. In view of the fact that Plaintiff has acted in a fraudulent and
suspicious manner, putting the Defendant in a terrible situation and in order
to prevent the same acts, the Defendant prays for exemplary damages;

19. In view of the filing of this complaint, a clearly baseless and

unmeritorious suit, Defendant Jose was forced to engage the services of the
undersigned counsel and thus had to pay the amount of Php 60,000.
Defendant therefore prays for the award of attorney’s fees as well as the
costs of the suit.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, Defendant Jose Tagarenta

hereby prays of the Honorable Court:

1. To DISMISS the foregoing Complaint for lack of merit;

2. To ORDER the Plaintiff to pay to the Defendant the amount of Php

720,000 as payment for the interest paid by the Defendant to his lost
suppliers;

3. To ENJOIN the Plaintiff from taking the leased premises and from
further damaging the business relations of the Defendant;

4. To ORDER the Plaintiff to RESTORE the Defendant to his status quo

before the suit was filed during the pendency of the litigation.

5. To PAY to defendant spouses the amount of Php 100,000 as moral

damages and exemplary damages in the amount based upon the
court’s discretion;

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 6. To PAY to the Defendant the amount of Php 60,000 as attorney’s
fees and costs of the suit.

Defendant Spouses further pray for such other relief as may be available
under the circumstances.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

Iloilo City, Philippines.

January 30, 2019.

HARMAEIN SHIRLESTHER G. KUA

Counsel for Defendant
Room 101, JC Building
Delgado Street, Iloilo City 5000;
Contact No. (033) 337-4444
PTR No. 1234567; 2/12/17; Iloilo City
IBP No. 0977816; 1/10/17; Iloilo
Roll of Attorneys No. 39999
MCLE Exemption No. II0012345

VERIFICATION

I, JOSE TAGARENTA, of legal age, and a resident of Lot 23, Block

4, CPU Heritage Subdivision, Brgy. Anila, Pavia, Iloilo, after having been
sworn to in accordance with law, hereby depose and say:

That I am the Defendant in the above-entitled case, that I have caused

the preparation and the filing of the foregoing answer; that I have read and
understood all the allegations contained therein; that the contents thereof are
true and correct to the best of my own personal knowledge and based on
existing documents.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hands this 30th day

of January 2019 at Iloilo City, Philippines.

JOSE TAGARENTA

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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)
CITY OF ILOILO ) SS.
x-------------------------------------------x

Defendant whose personal circumstances are above-stated appeared in

person before me this 30th day of January 2019 at JC Building, Delgado
Street, Iloilo City, identifying herself to me through Driver’s License No.
F03-34-432456 valid until 5-18-2020 and acknowledged that she has read
the foregoing pleading, signed the same in my presence and affirmed under
oath that the contents thereof are true and correct to the best of her
knowledge.

HARMAEIN SHIRLESTHER G. KUA

Notary Public for the City and Province of Iloilo
Until December 31, 2019
Comm. Reg # 55, 01/19/16, Iloilo City
Room 101, JC Building
Delgado Street, Iloilo City 5000;
Contact No. (033) 337-4444
PTR No. 1234567; 2/12/17; Iloilo City
IBP No. 0977816; 1/10/17; Iloilo
Roll of Attorneys No. 39999
MCLE Exemption No. II0012345

Doc No. _____;

Page No. _____;

Book No. _____;

Series of 20______.

Copy Furnished:

ATTY. ANN MARGARET P. DY

Counsel for the Plaintiff
Room 302, La Sallette Building,
Valeria Street, Iloilo City

Received by:_______________
Date:_____________________