Republic of the Philippines

Regional Trial Court

th
8 Judicial Region Branch VI
Tacloban City

Carmi Martyn,
representative for Coco Martyn
Plaintiff Civil Case No. 32790
For: Damages
-versus-

Dr. Vicente Sotto Law School and

Atty. Simon Bir, Atty. Richard Lab
Defendant

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JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF CARMI MARTYN

I, CARMI MARTYN, 35 years old, married, residing at

Tacloban City, after having been sworn to in accordance with the law
do hereby depose and state:

That Atty. Manuela M. Kilton is the counsel who conducted and

supervised my examination as a witness at her office at Door 12,
Yaokasin Bldg. Rizal Ave. Street, Tacloban City, Philippines;

That I am answering the questions herein fully conscious that I

do so under oath and that I may be criminally liable for false
testimony or perjury;

PURPOSE: This affidavit / testimony of plaintiff, CARMI MARTYN, is

being offered to prove that the witness’ brother, Mr. Coco Martyn,
suffered from extreme anguish and depression caused by the
defendants’ oral promise to Mr. Martyn of giving him passing grades
for him to be able to graduate but which they failed to fulfill and give,
instead him a failing grade, which ultimately led to his suicide.

Q1: Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
A1: Yes Ma’am.
Q2: Please state your name and other personal circumstances for
the record.
A2: I am Carmi Martyn, 35 years of age, married and resides in
Tacloban City. I am the eldest sister of Coco Martyn. I am the
one who helped him in his financial needs in studying Law.

Q3: How long has Coco been studying in Dr. Vicente Law School?
A3: About 9 years already.

Q4: What took him so long in studying Law?

A4: He was not enrolling in a full load every semester and that if
not getting failing grades, He would get an INC, in which case
he would repeat those subjects in another semester.

Q5: Did Coco tell you about his standing in school in the past
semester?
A5: Yes. He tells me everything that happens to him in law school.
He would even sometimes share to us his frustrations in his
classes, his performance and even the grades he got from
every subject. In his last semester in DVLS, he told us that he
will already graduate were it not for Labor Law II and Taxation
I subjects which he had failed in the previous semester. But,
after 2 days, he was so excited to confirm to us that he will
already finally be graduating on May 30, 2015 because his two
professors in the two subjects already promised him a passing
grade.

Q6: After that, what did he do?

A6: He was so elated. So excited and happy as if he already
passed the Bar exam! He partied with his classmates after he
learned that he will finally graduate. He even prepared and
bought things that he would be wearing in his graduation
where we spent so much. Our parents also prepared a
graduation party for him. He also applied for a review for the
Bar on the same year. He was so ready and very much looking
forward to taking the Bar exam the soonest possible time.

Q7: What did he do next?

A7: He went to Manila to fix everything, prepare his boarding
house, pay for his review fees and others. He just came back
for the graduation day. Of course he didn’t want to miss that.
But surprisingly, it was only on that day when he learned that
his name was not in the program where the names of
graduates were listed. He checked it with the person in-charge
of the program thinking that they only skipped on his name but
his classmates told him that he really was not listed in the
 program of graduating students. Eventually, he found out from
the two professors themselves that they actually gave him
failing grades in Labor Law II and Taxation I despite their
promise. After such happening, he got so depressed. He would
not eat or go out of his room, he would not talk to any of us.
He was in deep anguish and depression, and this went on for a
couple of weeks that ended up in suicide and we we’re not able
to prevent it.

Q8: Before his demise, did he tell you something? Or did you notice
something wrong about him?
A8: Yes. He was very depressed. He would not go out of his room.
He would not eat anything at all. But after a couple of weeks,
That night on the 11th of June 2015, he went out of his room
and ate dinner with us. We felt so happy that he joined us that
night. He was still quiet. He didn’t say anything. He barely
touched his food but it was better than not eating at all. We
were trying to have a conversation with him but he wouldn’t
say anything at all. We didn’t mind this though. We thought
maybe this was just a part of his process of recovering. After
that he said “ayoko na” (I don’t want this anymore). We didn’t
understand what he meant. We thought maybe he just did not
want the food or he was just tired that he needed to go back to
his room. Later that day, a very despairing, grief-stricken thing
happened. We saw him in his room bathed in his own blood.
He committed suicide.

Q9: What did you do after?

A9: We all panicked and checked if he still had pulse. We rushed
him to the nearest hospital, which was the Romualdo T.
Romualdez Hospital, at around 9:30 in the evening but when
we got there, he was already pronounced dead on arrival. They
said the cuts on his wrists were so severe and deep that he lost
a lot of blood.

Q10: Why do you think did he commit suicide?

A10: We strongly believe that his death stemmed from the fact that
he was not able to graduate. Before he got so distant from us,
he told me how disappointed he was of what happened and
that he could not accept it. He held on to his professors’
promises that in good faith they would fulfill but only to find out
they didn’t, which put him in a huge humiliation because he
became the laughing stock of the whole school on that day. He
told me he has been through a lot and that he did not need any
more disappointments like this. This was the only thing he
talked about weeks before the death.
Q11: Were you able to confirm that Labor Law II and Taxation I were
the only subjects he needed to pass for him to be able to
graduate?
A11: Yes. We have a certified true copy of Coco’s Transcript of
Records.

Q12: Why were you not able to get hold of the original?
A12: The admin assistant, Ms. Chavez, told us that we cannot obtain
the original copy at that moment because my brother had
pending obligations with the school that he had yet to
accomplish. Only upon the fulfillment of those obligations can
they then release an original copy. She also said that only a
bona fide student of the school can get an original copy right
away. But because he is already deceased, they permitted us to
get a faithful reproduction of the same document. They insisted
that this was enough since it was a faithful reproduction of the
original document and it was part of their standard protocol.
We of course, did not insist any further. We just had the said
transcript certified.

Q13: What proof do you have that leads you to believe that Coco
Martyn’s death was due to the fact that he was not able to
graduate?
A13: Only his testimonies, the graduation program and a photocopy
of his transcript of records. My parents can also attest to this
fact that he got depressed solely on the fact that he was not
able to graduate. He got so disappointed with the unfulfilled
promises of his professors that he depended on in good faith.
He felt as if he was betrayed by his own professors, his
mentors. When he told me about his professors finally giving
him passing grades on both subjects, I asked Coco to have
everything in writing for his own security. He declined and said
it would be too much to ask them to have it in writing. He
trusted in their word and promises.

Q14: Do you have anything else to say?

A14: I just hope that the professors involved in this matter, especially
the school, pay for the damages they caused to my brother.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature

this 19th day of March 2016 at Tacloban City, Philippines.
 Carmi
Martyn
CARMI MARTYN
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me, a notary public of

Tacloban City on this 19th day of March 2016, affiant personally came
and appeared before me, exhibiting her Passport No. 1-2462 issued
on March 16, 2014 at Tacloban City, known to me and avowed
under penalty of law to the whole truth of the contents of said
instrument.

Julia C. Romualdez
Atty. Julia C. Romualdez
NOTARY PUBLIC
Until December 31, 2016
PTR No. 050183/Baguio City/01-11-16
Roll of Atty. No. 8121983
IBP Lifetime Membership No. 9031984
Tacloban City

Doc. No. 28
Page No. 04
Book No. 06
Series of 2016.

ATTESTATION OF LEGAL COUNSEL

I, JULIA C. ROMUALDEZ, Asst. Provincial Prosecutor,

Detailed PPO-Tacloban City, Leyte, after having been sworn to in
accordance with the law do hereby depose and say:

1. That I have faithfully recorded or caused to be recorded the

questions I asked and the corresponding answers that
witness, Atty. Leila Delima, gave;
2. That I have not, nor any other person present or assisting
coached the witness regarding the witness’ answers; and
3. That I fully understand that any false attestation shall
subject me to disciplinary action, including disbarment.
 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature
this 12th day of March 2016 at Tacloban City, Philippines.

Manuela Kilton
ATTY. MANUELA M. KILTON
Counsel for Plaintiff
31 Burgos Street, Tacloban City
PTR No. 050183/Tacloban City/01-11-16
Roll of Atty. No. 8121983
IBP Lifetime Membership No. 9031984
Both issued in Tacloban City
MCLE Compliance V—005374
Issued on January 11, 2016

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 12 th day of March

2016 at Tacloban City, Philippines.

Julia C. Romualdez
Atty. Julia C. Romualdez
NOTARY PUBLIC
Until December 31, 2016
PTR No. 050183/Baguio City/01-11-16
Roll of Atty. No. 8121983
IBP Lifetime Membership No. 9031984
Tacloban City

Doc. No. 28
Page No. 04
Book No. 06
Series of 2016.