REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

NATIONAL JUDICIAL CAPITAL REGION

METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURT
Branch 66, City of Makati

CRUELLA DE VIL,
plaintiff,

CIVIL CASE No. 513

-versus- For: Damages based
on Quasi-Delict

JAMES P. SULLIVAN,
defendant.
x------------------------------------------------x

ANSWER

DEFENDANT JAMES P. SULLIVAN, through

undersigned counsel, and unto this Honorable Court,
respectfully avers that:

1. DEFENDANT admits the contents of paragraph 2 of

the complaint insofar as his personal circumstances
are concerned.

2. DEFENDANT has no sufficient knowledge or

information to form a belief as to the veracity of the
averments in paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10
of the complaint.

3. DEFENDANT admits owning a Blue Honda XRM125

motorcycle unit with Plate No. MY – 0516. He
purchased the motorcycle unit in 2005 at Norkis Head
Office in 11 Domingo M. Guevara (formerly known as
Libertad Street) corner Calbayog Streets, Mandaluyong
City.
4. DEFENDANT was involved in an accident when he hit
an electric post while driving in the night of 24
December 2008 As a result, the DEFENDANT’s was leg
was severely damage that will require him to walk in
crutches and disables him to drive any motorcycle
unit.

5. DEFENDANT after he was discharged, he sold his

motorcycle unit with a wrecked engine, fuel tank, front
shock and steering stem and frame, electric system,
broken headlights, separated front and rear wheels
and a severely dented handle bar to Mike Wazowski’s
who owns a Junk Shop in their barangay for Php
4,000.00.

6. DEFENDANT has no knowledge of what happened to

the motorcycle unit more than 10 years after the said
unit was scrapped.

7. DEFENDANT as much as he wants to sympathize with

the PLAINTIFF, cannot in his good conscience tolerate
someone who voluntarily broke the law and then
subsequently ask for compensatio. Quod quis ex culpa
sua damnum sentit non intelligitur damnum sentire (He
who suffers damage through his own fault has no right
to complain).

8. The PLAINTIFF in paragraph 3 and 4 of her complaint

voluntarily admitted in committing an illegal act by
violating Makati City Ordinance 2009-008 banning
“habal-habal” operations in Makati. It is a well settled
jurisprudence, that a party to an illegal contract
cannot come into a court of law and ask to have his
illegal objects carried out. The rule is expressed in the
maxims: "Ex dolo malo non oritur actio," and "In pari
delicto potior est conditio defendentis.

9. The PLAINTIFF in Paragraphs 3 and 4 admitted that

she voluntarily made use of the “habal-habal” as her
 mode of transportation which makes her negligent.1 In
Layugan v. Intermediate Appellate Court2, negligence
was defined as the omission to do something which a
reasonable man, guided by considerations which
ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs,
would do, or the doing of something which a prudent
and reasonable man would not do. It is the failure to
observe for the protection of the interests of another
person, that degree of care, precaution, and vigilance
which the circumstances justly demand, whereby such
other person suffers injury. The PLAINTIFF failed to
exercise reasonable vigilance in choosing the right and
legal mode of transportation, that led to the mishap
she suffered.

10. The PLAINTIFF should have taken the necessary

precautions in choosing the safest means of
transportation such as those public utility vehicles
that were granted a Certificate of Public Convenience.
Such Certificate, as ruled in the case of Kilusang Mayo
Uno Labor Center v Hon. Garcia3, is an authorization
granted by the LTFRB for the operation of land
transportation services for public use as required by
law. Despite the presence of these government
regulated public utility vehicles, the PLAINTIFF have
chosen to make use of the illegal “habal-habal”

1 Black’s Law Dictionary |Negligence is "the failure to exercise the standard of care that
a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation."
2 249 Phil. 363 (1988).

3 G.R. No. 115381 December 23, 1994

 PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, DEFENDANT James

P. Sullivan respectfully prays that this Honorable Court grant
other reliefs just and equitable under the premises.

ATTY. ARON PAULO F. LOBO

Roll of Attorney’s No. 66392
IBP No. : 1056316; 01/04/2017; Makati
PTR No. : 5912535; 01/04/2017; Makati
MCLE Exempted; Admitted to Bar on June 22, 2016

EXPLANATION FOR SERVICE BY REGISTERED MAIL

A copy of the instant Position Paper was furnished to the

opposing parties and their counsel through registered mail
due to time and distance constraints and due to lack of
messengerial personnel to effect such personal service.

ATTY. ARON PAULO F. LOBO

Copy Furnished by Personal Service:

Atty. Karyll Mitra

Counsel for the Plaintiffs
916-I URC Building, Blumentritt St.
Sampaloc, Manila