REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REGION 10
MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT IN CITIES
BRANCH 1, ILIGAN CITY

ABC,

Plaintiff,

-versus- Civil Case No. _____

For: Ejectment (Unlawful

Detainer)

XYZ,

Defendant.

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

POSITION PAPER FOR THE DEFENDANT

DEFENDANT, through the undersigned counsel and unto this Honorable Court,

most respectfully states that:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This is an action for UNLAWFUL DETAINER commenced by PLAINTIFF ABC

against DEFENDANT XYZ. The subject matter of the complaint is a portion of

real property located at Macapagal Avenue, Tubod, Iligan City. Plaintiff alleges

that a contract of lease was executed by and between Plaintiff and Defendant,

and upon expiration of said contract, Defendant unjustly refused to vacate said

land despite several verbal and written demands to vacate. On the other hand,

Defendant claims that Plaintiff is not the rightful owner of the subject land, but a

certain Juan was the rightful owner.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. Defendant has been in possession of the subject land since 2013,

specifically 80sqm but 160sqm as appearing in the contract of lease

 between Defendant and Plaintiff. The lot was used as a Vulcanizing and

Battery Charging Shop.

2. Defendant made advance payments to Plaintiff from April 2015 to October

2017. Sometime in 2016, Defendant learned that a certain Juan owned

the property, as evidenced by the payment of Juan of the Real Property

Taxes and that a Certificate of Title was issued in Juan’s favor for the

subject land.

3. Since the contract of lease was to expire on March 29, 2017, Defendant

went to the office of Juan to confirm the issue of ownership. Upon

confirming the same, an agreement to renew the contract with Juan, the

rightful owner, was under negotiations.

4. Defendant and Juan agreed that starting March 2018, the lease will

already be between Defendant and Juan, the rightful owner. Further,

Defendant was not given opportunity to attend the mediation/conciliation

before the Lupon Tagapamayapa, because Defendant was not informed

of the mediation/conciliation for two (2) consecutive times, and that the

two (2) summons were not received by him even though he can easily be

located at the Vulcanizing and Battery Charging Shop.

ISSUES

1. Whether or not the plaintiff has the right to legally eject the defendant from

the subject property when the plaintiff is not the rightful owner of the

property.

2. Whether or not the instant case be dismissed for failure to comply with

prior Barangay Conciliation and failure to state a cause of action.

 ARGUMENTS

1. In Fullido vs. Grilli, G.R. No. 215014, February 29, 2016, the court opined

that: “A person who does not have any right over a property from the

beginning cannot eject another person possessing the same.” Therefore,

since Plaintiff is not the rightful owner of the property, he does not have

any right over the property. Hence, he cannot legally eject the Defendant.

Further, Defendant already contracted with Juan, who is the rightful owner

of the subject land, whereby Juan was paying the Real Property Taxes

and a Certificate of Title was issued in his favor, and both Juan and

Defendant have reached an agreement to renew the contract with the

rightful owner.

2. In Royales vs. Intermediate Appellate Court, G.R. No. L-65072 January

31, 1984, the court categorically ruled that: “A case filed in court without

compliance with prior Barangay Conciliation is a pre-condition for formal

adjudication (Sec. 412[a] of the Revised Katarungang Pambarangay Law)

may be dismissed upon motion of defendant/s, not for lack of jurisdiction

of the court but for failure to state cause of action or prematurity”.

Therefore, since Defendant was not given opportunity to attend the

mediation/conciliation before the Lupon Tagapamayapa, because

Defendant was not informed of the mediation/conciliation for two (2)

consecutive times, and that the two (2) summons were not received by

him, the Certification to File Action is defective and is tantamount to the

failure to comply with Barangay Conciliation. Hence, the instant case

should be dismissed for failure to state case of action or prematurity.

 RESERVATIONS

Defendant respectfully reserves his right to file supplemental pleadings or

adduce additional evidence in the due course of the proceedings, whenever it

may seem just and proper.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, Defendant most respectfully pray

of this Honorable Court the following:

1. To DISMISS the instant Complaint for utter lack of merit;

2. Alternatively, to DISMISS the instant Complaint for failure to state a

cause of action or prematurity;

3. To ORDER Plaintiff to pay the Defendant the amount of P12,000.00 as

payment of net cash advances of Plaintiff as of June 2018;

4. To ORDER Plaintiff to pay Defendant the amount of at least

P50,000.00 as and by way of moral damages;

Other reliefs, just and equitable under the premises, are likewise prayed

for.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

Iligan City, March 12, 2018.

ATTY. ALI RAZUMAN LYNDON IBRAHIM

Counsel for Defendant
Unit 1, X Building, Iligan City
Roll No. 123450; 1-01-15; Iligan City
IBP No. 123456; 01-01-15; Iligan City
PTR No. 1234567; 01-01-15; Iligan City
MCLE Compliance No. I – 001234; 09/09/17
MCLE Compliance No. II – 005678; 09/09/17

Copy Furnished through Personal Service:

ATTY. IBRAHIM LYNDON ALI RAZUMAN

Counsel for Plaintiff

Republic of the Philippines )

Iligan City ) S. S.

VERIFICATION

I, XYZ, Filipino, of legal age and resident of Macapagal Avenue, Tubod, Iligan

City, after having been duly sworn in accordance with law, hereby depose and

state that:

I am the defendant of the above titled case; that I have caused the

preparation of the above brief and understood the contents thereof, and I hereby

declare that all the allegations contained herein are true and correct of my own

personal knowledge and the authentic records of the case.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of March

2019, at Iligan City, Philippines.

XYZ

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 12th day of March 2019, at Iligan

City, Philippines, affiant is known to me personally and exhibiting to me his

Driver’s License with number M02-12-123456789 issued at Iligan City,

Philippines on December 1, 2018.

ATTY. ALI RAZUMAN LYNDON IBRAHIM

Commission No. 124 - 2018
Notary Public for Iligan City
Until December 31, 2019
Unit 1, X Building, Iligan City
Roll No. 123450; 1-01-15; Iligan City
IBP No. 123456; 01-01-15; Iligan City
PTR No. 1234567; 01-01-15; Iligan City
MCLE Compliance No. I – 001234; 09/09/17
MCLE Compliance No. II – 005678; 09/09/17
Doc. no. 5;
Page no. 5;
Book no. 5;
Series of 2019.