REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

FOURTH JUDICIAL REGION
,
Respondent.
x-----------------------------------------------x

PETITION
PETITIONER, by counsel and unto this Honorable Court, most
respectfully states the following:

1. Petitioner is Filipino, of legal age, married and with

residence at ________. She may be served with notices and other legal
processes at the office of the undersigned at Unit 7, 2nd Floor, 1NK
Centre, Gen. Luna St., Sabang, Lipa City.

2. Respondent is likewise Filipino, of legal age, married and

with residence at _______, where he may be served with notices and other
legal processes from the Honorable Court.

3. On 18 December 2004, Petitioner and Respondent entered

into a contract of marriage in Taal, Batangas.1

4. Thereafter, they begot four sons, namely:, 7 years of age,

having been born on 16 April 2010; and ______, 5 years of age, having
been born on _______.2

5. The family built their home in _____, and eventually moved to

_____, Lipa City, Batangas in 20__.

6. Unfortunately, sometime in ___, the marriage of the Parties

turned sour when Petitioner discovered that Respondent got himself
involved in an extramarital affair with another woman.

7. While Petitioner exerted her best effort to save their

marriage, Respondent’s infidelity and indifference proved fatal and
caused reconciliation to be highly improbable. The Parties eventually
decided to part ways, and on 8 April 2017, Petitioner and Respondent
were already in separation de facto.

1
A copy of the Parties’ Certificate of Marriage is hereto attached as Annex “A” and made an integral part
hereof.
2
Copies of their children’s Certificates of Live Birth are hereto attached as Annexes “B”, “C”, “D,” and
“E,” respectively, and made integral parts hereof.
SP Proc. No. ________
Marasigan v. Marasigan
Petition

8. At that time, Petitioner was forced to move out of their

conjugal? house in ___________ and stay in_____, Taal, Batangas with her
sister___?(Own house? Rented?). (Nevertheless, Petitioner also owns a
house at Granja, Lipa City.) Respondent, on the other hand, stayed at
______________.

9. But before Petitioner could leave in peace, Respondent

demanded that two of their children stay with him. Petitioner, then
confused, hurt, betrayed and vulnerable, acceded to his demand.

10. Much to the distress of Petitioner, Respondent was able to

get actual custody of Ff Lance.

11. Sometime in May 2017, Respondent asked Petitioner to

allow him to spend some time with. And as Petitioner had always been
considerate, she allowed her son to visit his father. However, Rr ;; was
never brought back home to the Petitioner.

12. Petitioner felt helpless and simply asked in return that she
be allowed to see Ff Lance and Rr ;;.

13. However, Respondent was not as accommodating,

understanding and considerate as Petitioner, and always made it
difficult for the latter to see her sons. Respondent demanded of
Petitioner to make advance appointments before the two kids staying
with the former can see the latter. Most of the time, the requests of
Petitioner to spend time with Ff Lance and Rr ;; even went unheeded.

14. Nevertheless, Petitioner made time for the two as much as

she could, even going out of her way to see them before classes and
office hours start. Petitioner also constantly talked to her sons via
Facebook messenger.

15. When Respondent also suddenly moved out of ______ and

brought Ff Lance and Rr ;; with him, Respondent did not even have the
courtesy to inform the Petitioner of the new address of their sons.
Petitioner had to diligently search for their new place. Moreover, when
Petitioner finally found their place, it took Respondent a long time
before he finally allowed Ff Lance and Rr ;; to join their mother for
dinner. Worse, Respondent unnecessarily and distrustfully lingered and
watched over Petitioner and their sons all throughout their time with
their mother.

16. On 20 October 2017, Petitioner was able to have Ff Lance

and Rr ;; stay at her place at Granja, Lipa City to celebrate the birthday
of Rr ;; the following day.

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SP Proc. No. ________
Marasigan v. Marasigan
Petition

17. On 21 October 2017, Respondent fetched their four sons so

that they could all spend some time together with him. The youngest,
________, refused to join his father and wept a lot when asked to join the
Respondent. The youngest was then able to stay with Petitioner, while
the rest joined their father. Respondent promised to bring back Fffag
Lynch to Petitioner the following day.

18. 22 October 2017 arrived but Respondent never came back

with Fffag Lynch or any of their sons for that matter. Petitioner was
forced to seek help from her father-in-law and mother-in-law in
Agoncillo, Batangas. Her in-laws, however, simply refused to help and
get involved. However, they revealed that Respondent and the sons with
him moved to Monte Claro, Sabang, Lipa City.

19. On 23 October 2017, Petitioner was able to locate the exact

place of Respondent, but no one was at home when she arrived.
Petitioner went back to the place later that evening, but was not
fortunate enough to retrieve custody of her sons.

20. From that time on, as Respondent greedily took custody of

Fffag Lynch and _____, the two began missing out on their classes at
OLCA, Taal. The two are currently behind their schooling.

21. Nevertheless, since the time that the Parties separated their
ways, Petitioner had always given (insert areas of support, expenses
shouldered, etc.)

22. It is worthy to note that since ______, Petitioner works as a

______ at _________.

23. On the other hand, Respondent keeps an upholstery

business which has yet to reflect a stable income. Respondent has been
barely making it to support their sons, given that_____ (how is he
supporting his children? Is he getting help from relatives?). Moreover,
Respondent is buried in debt as he struggles to pay for rent, his
motorcycle and other appliances.

24. Worse, Respondent fails to consider the best interests of

their sons, as he continues to allow his concubine to live with them/visit
them __insert specifics. At their very young age, their sons are exposed
to grossly immoral and illegal acts.

25. Insert other details why Respondent is not worthy of the

custody of the children (example: instance when Respondent neglected
to give proper medical attention…, left alone without adult supervision,
Respondent with vice? Bad influence, etc)

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SP Proc. No. ________
Marasigan v. Marasigan
Petition

26. All in all, it is clear that the Respondent wishes to deprive

the Petitioner of her right to the care and custody over the children.

27. This is contrary to Article 211 of the Family Code of the

Philippines, which provides that, “the father and the mother shall jointly
exercise parental authority over the persons of their common children.”

28. Anent the parents’ right to custody over their children,

Article 220 of the Family Code provides that parents and individuals
exercising parental authority over their unemancipated children are
entitled, among other rights, “to keep them in their company.”

29. The Supreme Court even went on to say that parental

authority and responsibility are inalienable and may not be transferred
or renounced except in cases authorized by law.3

30. Thus, in view of the above-mentioned circumstances,

Petitioner should immediately be allowed to have the company of their
children and to have their custody to make up for the time she had been
deprived of their company. The Honorable Court should likewise order
that the parties equally share parental authority over their minor
children.

31. It is also prayed that the Honorable Court immediately issue

a Hold Departure Order to prevent Respondent from bringing the
children out of the country without the consent of Petitioner and the
Honorable Court.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, Petitioner respectfully

prays that the Honorable Court:

1. Issue an Order to the Respondent to bring all their minor

children, Ff Lance. Rr ;;, Fffag Lynch and ___ to this Honorable Court at
the hour and date to be set by this Honorable Court and, that
immediately thereafter, order that the custody of the minor be turned
over to herein Petitioner;

2. Issue an Order awarding custody of their children to the

Petitioner, with regular visitational rights to the Respondent, or
directing the Respondent to allow Petitioner equal parental authority
over their minor children.
3Tonog vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 122906, February 7, 2002.

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SP Proc. No. ________
Marasigan v. Marasigan
Petition

3. Issue a Hold Departure Order addressed to the Bureau of

Immigration and Deportation, directing it not to allow the departure of
Ff Lance, Rr ;;, Fffag Lynch and ___ from the Philippines without the
permission of the Petitioner and this Honorable Court.

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

Lipa City, ___ 2017 .

-insert verification
-insert signature of counsel
-insert copy furnished