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 PLAINTIFF

PLAINTIFF, 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 claims

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.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. Plaintiff is of legal age, single, and with residence address at Macapagal

Avenue, Tubod, Iligan City, while defendant is of legal age, married,

maintains a Vulcanizing and Battery Shop at Macapagal Avenue, Tubod,

 Iligan City, where he may be served with summons and other court

process of this Honorable Court;

2. Plaintiff is in prior possession and an adjudged co-owner of the real

property situated at Macapagal Avenue, Tubod, Iligan City, a portion of

which is occupied by the defendant. Hereby attached is a copy of the

Judgement made by the Court of Appeals (G.R. CV NO. XXXXX)

promulgated on April 25, 2016, marked as Annex “A” declaring the Plaintiff

as co-owner of the subject property;

3. The Plaintiff is an indigent litigant and has no financial capacity to engage

the services of a lawyer. A certification of the Integrated Bar of the

Philippines – Lanao del Norte Chapter is hereto attached and marked as

Annex “B” and a Certificate of Indigency issued by the Office of the

Punong Barangay of Barangay Tubod is also attached and marked as

Annex “B-1”;

4. Sometime in 2014, a contract of lease was executed by and between

Plaintiff and Defendant whereby Plaintiff leased a portion of the property to

the Defendant, for a period of three (3) years and renewable for 1 year.

Hereby attached is a copy of the lease contract signed by the Plaintiff and

Defendant as parties marked as Annex “C”;

5. In 2017, the period of the lease expired. Plaintiff made several verbal and

written demands to vacate the said property but the Defendant remained

and continuously in illegal possession of said parcel of land. The final

demand letter was made on April 23, 2018 and received by the Defendant

on April 24, 2018, the certification of which from the Philippine Postal

Corporation is hereto attach and marked as Annex “D” and “D-1”,

respectively;

6. The said parcel of land has been leased for the amount of FIVE

THOUSAND PESOS ONLY (P5,000.00);

7. That Defendant is unlawfully withholding possession of the subject land

from the Plaintiff despite last and final demand, to the damage and

prejudice of the Plaintiff;

8. That due to the unjust refusal of the Defendant to vacate and to return the

said land to the Plaintiff, the latter was constrained to endorse the said

matter to the Public Attorney’s Office, then to the IBP, and to a private

counsel for the filing of an appropriate action in court;

9. That his action is being filed within a period of one (1) year from the last

demand on Defendant to vacate the said property;

10. Before filing of this complaint, the dispute has been referred to the Lupong

Tagapamayapa of Barangay Tubod but the parties failed to arrive at an

amicable settlement. Certificate to File Action is hereto attached as Annex

“E”; and

11. That the filing of this case is caused by the Plaintiff and through the

recommendation and participation of the IBP – Lanao del Norte Chapter.

ISSUES

1. Whether or not the DEFENDANT can be ejected for UNLAWFUL

DETAINER under Rule 70 of the Revised Rules of Court.

2. Whether or not the PLAINTIFF is entitled to damages.

ARGUMENTS

1. In Cabrera v. Getaruela, G.R. No. 164213, April 21, 2009, the Supreme

Court held that a complaint sufficiently alleges a cause of action for

UNLAWFUL DETAINER if it recites the following:

a. Initially, possession of property by the defendant was by contract

with or by tolerance of the plaintiff;

 b. Eventually, such possession became illegal upon notice by plaintiff

to defendant of the termination of the latter’s right of possession;

c. Thereafter, the defendant remained in possession of the property

and deprived the plaintiff of the enjoyment thereof; and

d. Within one year from the last demand on defendant to vacate the

property, the plaintiff instituted the complaint for ejectment.

Additionally, in Ocampo vs. Tirona, G.R. No. 147812, April 6, 2005, the

Supreme Court held that, “the elements to be proved and resolved in

unlawful detainer cases are the fact of lease and expiration or violation of

its terms.”

In the present case, there is no doubt that the first, third, and fourth

elements of unlawful detainer are present. Hence, the only element in

dispute is the second. Therefore, the only issue is whether or not the

possession of the defendant has become illegal upon notice by plaintiff to

defendant of the termination of the latter’s right of possession.

The plaintiff claims that the possession of the defendant has become

illegal based the ground that the contract of lease between plaintiff and

defendant was not renewed and thus, has expired.

In paragraph no. 4 of his Answer, the Defendant denies that a contract of

lease was executed by and between him and the Plaintiff. However, a

copy of the Contract of Lease or Annex “C” proves that a contract of lease

was executed between the Defendant and Plaintiff. Furthermore, in the

same paragraph of Defendant’s Answer, he denies that a demand letter

was made and received by him. However, Annex “D” and “D-1” prove

otherwise. Hence, there was, in effect, a notice or demand to vacate.

Premises considered, it therefore just and logical to conclude that the

possession of the DEFENDANT has become illegal upon notice by

 PLAINTIFF to DEFENDANT of the termination of the latter’s right of

possession.

2. In accordance with the pertinent provisions of the New Civil Code, the

PLAINTIFF is entitled to actual and liquidated damages, as well as the

Attorney’s Fees and other costs of suit.

RESERVATIONS

Plaintiff 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, the plaintiff respectfully prays that the reliefs prayed for in the

instant complaint be granted.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

Iligan City, March 12, 2018.

ATTY. IBRAHIM LYNDON ALI RAZUMAN

Counsel for Plaintiff
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. ALI RAZUMAN LYNDON IBRAHIM

Counsel for Defendant

Republic of the Philippines )

Iligan City ) S. S.

VERIFICATION

I, ABC, 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 petitioner 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.

ABC

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. IBRAHIM LYNDON ALI RAZUMAN

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.