REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES THIRD JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT MALOLOS CITY, BULACAN BRANCH _______ PETITION FOR THE LEGAL CUSTODY OF MINORS JAMES JR. and JACK BERNARD, bot !"#na$%d FAGER, JAMES &. FAGER, P%t't'on%#,
SP. PROC. NO. ______
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ARLENE C. MARTINE*, R%!+ond%nt. x. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
PETITION Petitioner JAMES &. FAGER , through the undersigned counsel, unto this Honorable Court, most respectfully states: THAT
PARTIES 1. Petitioner JAMES &. FAGER is is of legal age, U.. citi!en, married and presently residing in the Philippines at "loc# 1$, %ot &. 'osal treet, (ilflora Homes, "rgy. abang, "aliuag, "ulacan. He may be ser)ed *ith notices, orders, summons and other court processes through the undersigned counsel. $. 'espondent ARLENE CABRAL MARTINE* is li#e*ise of legal age, single, +ilipino citi!en and reportedly staying in Abha, audi Arabia. Ho*e)er, Ho*e)er, her last #no*n address in the Philippines is at o. $ Teodoro treet, "rgy. Tangos, "aliuag, "ulacan *here she may be ser)ed *ith summons, notices, orders and other court processes. &. (inors (inors JAMES JR. and JACK BERNARD, both surnamed FAGER are the natural and biological children of petitioner *ith the respondent. The minors ha)e been li)ing *ith the petitioner since birth and are currently under his custody. -n support hereof, copies of the Certificates of %i)e "irth of minors JAMES JR. an and JACK BERNARD, both surname surnamed d FAGER , hereto attached and mar#ed as Ann%-%! A/ and B/, respecti)ely, respecti)ely, and made integral parts of this petition
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II
ALLEGATIONS IN SUPPORTOF THE PETITION . Petitioner first arri)ed in the Philippines in year $//0. uring his early so2ourn in the country, he met respondent in one of the night bars in Angeles City, Pampanga *here the latter *as a regular “dancer”. Petitioner *as, thus, enticed to fre3uent the bar and *ould fondly *atch respondent perform her dancing s#ills on stage. Petitioner *ould then spend the night drin#ing *ith respondent inside the bar. -t *as during these occasions that he had the chance to ma#e amorous ad)ances unto her. After t*o 4$5 *ee#s, their intimacy blossomed into a lo)e affair. They became s*eethearts and their carnal affair resulted into respondent getting impregnated. 6. Thereafter, petitioner as#ed respondent if she is *illing to li)e *ith him. 'espondent accepted the proposal but *ith the reser)ation that she is obliging solely for the sa#e of money. he the resigned from her 2ob as a bar dancer and the t*o 4$5 of them li)ed together as husband and *ife *ithout the benefit of marriage. 0. +rom Angeles City, they first mo)ed to (anila and subse3uently transferred to "ustos, "ulacan *here the parents of respondent reside. They finally settled in "rgy. Tangos, "aliuag, "ulacan *here their first child JAMES JR./ *as born on o)ember 0, $//7. 8. At the start, the relationship seemed to be alright *hereby petitioner *ould ta#e full responsibility of pro)iding food, groceries, clothing, medicines, utilities and other necessities of the household. 9n the other hand, respondent *ould attend to the needs of minor ;A(< ;'.=. The supposed harmonious relationship bet*een the t*o 4$5, ho*e)er, *as attended by occasional s3uabbles. 'espondent started to manifest erratic beha)ior *ith emotional flare>ups. True to her *ord, she *ould al*ays demand for money e)en *hen the need does not arise. -f not satisfied, she *ould become impulsi)e and impatient and *ould )ent her ire and frustrations against petitioner for no apparent reason. ot*ithstanding respondent?s afore>3uoted imperfections, ho*e)er, petitioner remained calm and continued to act li#e a good father of a family by al*ays pro)iding financial needs to respondent and their minor child ;A(< ;'.=. 7. 9n +ebruary $/, $/11, respondent ga)e birth to their second child *ho *as later christened as JACK BERNARD/. Petitioner continued displaying his sense of responsibility by loo#ing at the *elfare of the family, not only from the standpoint of financial needs but emotional affection as *ell. 9n the contrary, respondent *ent on *ith her careless and irresponsible *ays and continued *ith her antics of al*ays as#ing money= for no apparent reason. @. -n short, the common>la* relationship bet*een petitioner and respondent *as rendered shortli)ed. iscord e)entually too# place as respondent?s true color re>surfaced. Her penchant for a happy-go-lucky *ay of life and sense of irresponsibility *ere again demonstrated, in that: a. he *ent bac# to her old *ays of drin#ing li3uor hea)ily. he *ould go out *ith friends at night and *hen she returns home, she *ould be carried and
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brought inside the house during the *ee hours the next morning completely “passed-out” or “dead-drunk”. b. -nstead of attending to the necessary household chores, she prefers to sleep all day and *hen she *a#es up, she *ould drin# li3uor again until she passes out . either *ould she loo# for a decent 2ob to be able to earn money because as already repeatedly said, she *ould simply as# money from petitioner. c. he al*ays go to her parents? place in "ustos, "ulacan and comes home during *ee hours the next morning dead-drunk. he also *ould 2ust lea)e petitioner to ta#e charge of the necessary expenses for the care and *elfare of their minor sons ;ames ;r. and ;ac# "ernard. d. he al*ays play card game #no*n as 4tong>hits5 *ith friends the *hole day and *ould not care about the needs of their minor children. he is totally irresponsible rendering her unfit to be considered a typicalcaring mother. 1/. ometime in $/16, petitioner had to go bac# to the United tates due to heart illness. As earlier diagnosed, he had to undergo an open>heart= surgery in the United tates. uring that year, he *as finally sub2ected to surgical operation at the BH99' H
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a)ail. eparation *as, thus, ine)itable. Their separation too# place *hen petitioner *as still recuperating from his surgical operation in the United tates. 10. The se)erance, not*ithstanding, petitioner ne)ertheless, continued *ith his bounden duty of regularly pro)iding allo*ances to his minor children and respondent as *ell until he finally returned to the Philippines sometime in $/18. Petitioner stayed *ith his t*o 4$5 minor sons and continued to perform his duties as a caring father. He did the functions left by respondent. He became the minors? father and mother at the same time. 9n the other hand, respondent clung to her patented *ays of drin#ing hea)ily *ith friends e)ery night, maintaining a lo)er and such other similar )ices. 18. -n (arch $/18, respondent totally abandoned the petitioner and the t*o 4$5 minors *hen she unexpectedly and unceremoniously left for audi Arabia *here she stays up to the present. 'egrettably, petitioner came to #no* of this scenario only from a friend. 17. Presumably bothered by her conscience and possibly afraid of the loss of the t*o 4$5 minor in fa)or of the petitioner, respondent *arned the petitioner not to ta#ebring a*ay ;ames ;r. and ;ac# "ernard from their place in "rgy. Tangos, "aliuag, "ulacan, other*ise, she *ould do e)erything to ta#e them bac# upon her return to the Philippines. Eorse, she e)en threatened that something *ill happen to petitioner if he ta#ebring a*ay the minors *ith him. 1@. Ha)ing #no*n the true character of respondent in the past, petitioner *as compelled to bring the minors into a safe and more conduci)e place to reside, *ith their physical and psychological de)elopment as the primordial concern. Petitioner then brought the minors to "aguio City in (ay $/18 *here they no* temporarily stay. As the minors are already in their school ages, petitioner enrolled them at the Camp 8 Doung %and )ersa.
III
GROUNDS IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITION $1. As may be gleaned from the foregoing recitals, there are compelling reasons for respondent to be denied the pri)ilege or right to custody o)er the t*o $5 minors namely ;ames ;r. 47 years old5 and ;ac# "ernard 40 years old5. The e)idence obtaining sho*s that respondent is unfit to ta#e the care and custody of the minors. Her immorality is readily apparent, in that, *hile petitioner *as still recuperating in the United tates, she already had a lo)er in the Philippines. Eorse, she had the temerity to regularly as# money from the petitioner despite her infidelity. $$. The illicit and immoral acti)ities of respondent ha)e already caused emotional disturbances, personality conflicts and exposure to immoral )alues to the minors. he li#e*ise neglected and abandoned them by choosing to o)erstay in the (iddle free life choosing not to be burdened by the maternal responsibilities.
$&. Ehile respondent has time and again sho*n her incapacity and unsuitability to ta#e care of the t*o 4$5 minors, petitioner, on the other hand, has al*ays ta#en on the full parental duties and responsibilities for the *elfare and *ell>being of his minor sons. $. To deny petitioner of this pri)ilege *ould ha)e negati)e psychological effects on the minors. -t *ould be painful and traumatic on their part to be separated from lo)e and affection that their father had exemplified upon them. $6. +urther, there can be no dispute that in the determination of custodial issue, the paramount consideration *ould be the respecti)e resources of the parents. -n the instant case, respondent has no )isible means of income as she is totally dependent upon the petitioner for money. 9n the contrary, petitioner is more in a position to pro)ide the financial needs of the minor, he being the Chief +inance 9fficer 4C+95 of a U firm #no*n as &0/ T
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PRAYER &HEREFORE, foregoing premises considered, it is most respectfully prayed of this Honorable Court that an 9rder be issued:
1. 'ecogni!ing, confirming and a*arding sole legal parental custody o)er minors JAMES JR. and JACK BERNARD, both surnamed FAGER , in fa)or of the Petitioner. 9ther reliefs that may be 2ust and e3uitable under the premises are e3ually prayed for. (alolos City, "ulacan, August GGGGG, $/18.
ATTY, MEL0IN J. ABAD Co"n!%1 2o# t% P%t't'on%# No. 3 E1%4t#on St., M%#a14o 0'11a5% B#56. L'a!, Ma#'1ao, B"1a4an
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ROLL NO. 789:9 IBP LIFE MEMBER NO. 83 MCLE Co$+1'an4% No. 0(88;<93(8<(;<(9 0ERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF NON(FORUM SHOPPPING
-, JAMES FAGER , of legal age, single, *ith residence and postal address at "loc# 1$, %ot &, 'osal treet, (ilflora Homes, abang, "aliuag, "ulacan, after ha)ing been duly s*orn to in accordance *ith la* hereby )oluntarily depose and state that: 1. - am the Petitioner in the abo)e>captioned case $. - ha)e caused the preparation of the said petition &. - ha)e read all the allegations contained therein and that they are true and correct to my personal #no*ledge and based on authentic documents and records . - ha)e not commenced any action or proceeding in)ol)ing the same issues in the upreme Court, the Court of Appeals, The 'egional Trial Court, or any other 2udicial or 3uasi>2udicial tribunal or agency in the 'epublic of the Philippines 6. To the best of my #no*ledge, no such action or proceeding is pending in the upreme court, the Court of Appeals, or different i)isions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency 0. -f - should learn that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending before the upreme Court, Court of Appeals or any other tribunal or agency, - underta#e to promptly inform the aforesaid courts and such other tribunal or agency of such fact *ithin fi)e 465 days therefrom. FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT. IN &ITNESS &HEREOF, - ha)e hereunto set my hand this GGGGGGGG day of August $/18 at "aliuag, "ulacan, Philippines.
JAMES &.FAGER Affiant
SUBSCRIBED AND S&ORN to before me this GGGGGGG day of August $/18, at "aliuag, "ulacan, Philippines by affiant *ho exhibited to me his U Passport Card o. C1&/8&&71 as his competent e)idence of identity. DOC NO. _______= PAGE NO. ______= BOOK NO. ______=
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SERIES OF ;89.
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