Republic of the PhilippinesNINTH JUDICIAL REGION

MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT IN CITIESBRANCH _____

Zamboanga City

JUNAID E. DOMATO,Plaintiff,

-versus-

FAIGH RONDOVIODefendant,

x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

CIVIL CASE NO. ______

-for-

COLLECTION OF SUM OF MONEY WITH DAMAGES

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-

“[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

1 Annex A- Construction Contract dated August 28, 2012

various amounts from September to November of 2012, totaling ONE

MILLION EIGHTY 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

operated2. He spent more than 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 Action3. 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

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.3 Annex “C”- Certification to File Action dated April 20, 20134 Annex “D”- Agreement dated July 21, 2014

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 DBP JS 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 having failed to pay according to the

terms of the agreement, Defendant has incurred in delay. Hence, this

Complaint;

JURISDICTION OF THIS HONORABLE COURT

5 Annex “D-1” - paragraph (i), Agreement

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, ____ October 2013.

By: ATTY. IMRAN A. PANGILINAN

Counsel for PlaintiffRoll No. 23600

PTR No. 0436633: 1-05-2013IBP No. 892413: 1-03-2013

Zamboanga CityMCLE Compliance No. IV-0000921: 8-13-2013

Republic of the Philippines )City of Zamboanga . . . . . )X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X

VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION

I, JUNAID E. DOMATO, is of legal age, married, Filipino, and with residence at Block 5, Lot 2, Kalambuan Homeowners Association, Maasin, Zamboanga City, after having duly sworn in accordance with the law do hereby depose and state that:

I am the Plaintiff in the above-mentioned case;

I caused the preparation of the Complaint, and have read and understood the contents and allegations thereof which are true and correct of my own personal knowledge based on authentic records;

I certify that I have not commenced any other action involving the same issue in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals or any division thereof of any other tribunal or agency, and to the best of my knowledge, no such action involving the same issue has been filed or pending before the same;

If we should learn hereafter that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending before the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals or any division thereof of any other tribunal or agency, we should report that fact to the Honorable Court within five (5) days there from.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto affixed our signatures this ___ day of October 2013, at Zamboanga City, Philippines.

JUNAID E. DOMATOAffiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this his ___ day of October 2014, at Zamboanga City, Philippines. Affiant exhibited to me his

Government Social Insurance System CRN-006-0056-4178-5, issued on November 4, 2009.

Doc. No. _____;Page No. _____;Book No._____;Series of 2013.

ATTY. IMRAN A. PANGILINANNotary Public for Zamboanga City

Roll No. 23600PTR No. 0436633: 1-05-2013IBP No. 892413: 1-03-2013

Zamboanga CityMCLE Compliance No. IV-0000921: 8-13-

2013