Ma.

Divina Ortañez-Enderes – In her direct examination, plaintiff

testified, among others, that she is the appointed special administratrix of the
estate of her father, the late Dr. Juvencio Ortañez. She and defendant Jose
C. Lee have been in dispute over the control of the management of
Philinterlife, the company founded by her late father. The Jose C. Lee group
controls the management of the corporation but the plaintiffs are disputing
that control because the Supreme Court has ordered that the sale of the
shares of stocks from the estate of her father were null and void. Defendant
Lee filed a case for estafa and another case for libel against plaintiff despite
lack of probable cause, both of which were subsequently dismissed. Plaintiff
finished her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at the University of Maryland,
USA and worked as an accountant both in the Philippines and in the United
State. The filing of the criminal cases against her by defendant was malicious
and was done for the plaintiff to give up her attempt to recover her father’s
shares in the company. Plaintiff alleges that the filing of the criminal cases
against her resulted into her character being blemished and that the same
caused her mental anguish and sleepless nights, and she became an
embarrassment to her friends and colleagues. Plaintiff engaged the services
of lawyers for the criminal cases filed against her and spent about P200,000
aside from the P2,000 fee per appearance. When the said criminal cases
were dismissed, plaintiff had to consult another lawyer for the filing of the
present case for Damages due to Malicious Prosecution. Plaintiff came to
court for redress and compensation and asks for P1,000,000 for each case,
or a total of P2,000,000 to assuage the sufferings, embarrassment and
humiliation she went through because of the malicious cases filed against
her.

On cross-examination, plaintiff testified, among others, that she came

to know Mr. Lee when he was introduced to her by plaintiff’s mother between
the years 1985 to 1989. Mr. Lee was with Engr. Rodrigo Gatchalian who was
then managing Philinterlife though they found out later on that Lee was the
one who started to manage the company. In 1994, plaintiff and her mother
found out that there were anomalies in the management of Philinterlife and
that the shares of the estate of plaintiff’s father were illegally sold. Plaintiff
was appointed special administratrix of 2,029 shares belonging to the estate
of the late Dr. Ortañez but the appointment was revoked by the Regional Trial
Court of the same branch. Plaintiff testified that the late Dr. Ortañez has eight
declared heirs and before he died, he was the controlling and managing
stockholder of the corporation. The case filed in the SEC in 1994 was still
pending in the Regional Trial Court during the time that plaintiff was being
cross-examined. Plaintiff came to the Philippines in 1994 from the United
States.

Ligaya Novicio – On cross-examination, the witness testified, among

others, that she has been a stockholder of Philinterlife since 1983, beginning
with 240 shares for her and her children and adding P500,000 for additional
capital when asked for additional by Philinterlife but she was not given a stock
certificate. Novicio does not know how many shares she really has despite
being a director of Philinterlife from 1983 to 1994. In 1994, Novicio was never
able to ascertain how many shares she owns because Lee never answered
her question. She also tried to check with Alma Aggabao, the corporate
secretary but she received no response which made her suspect that
Aggabao and Lee were hiding something. Novicio had 240 shares in 1983,
comprising 4% or 5% of the total outstanding capital stocks of the corporation.
In 1995, Novicio’s group went to the Philinterlife office with one or two guards
and held a stockholders meeting without the Lee group because of a TRO
against the latter. After the said meeting, the Novicio group wrote letters to
banks, the Department of Education Culture and Sports, and some other
government institutions wherein Philippine International Insurance Company
is involved informing them that the Novicio group is the new Board of Director
therefore entitled to receive proceeds from the insurance policies registered
or accredited with the insurance company. The new Board of Directors also
had a media campaign to inform everyone. The new Board of Directors was
able to physically take possession of the office of the corporation for two
weeks. Plaintiff Divina Ortañez-Enderes is claimed by Novicio as representing
2,029 shares in the stockholders meeting based on the Decision rendered by
the Supreme Court.

Jose Lee – On direct examination, defendant testified, among others,

that he knows plaintiff as a stockholder of Philinterlife of which defendant is
the President from 1991 up to the present. He became a stockholder together
with Ligaya Novicio and her family on March 25, 1983 by purchasing from the
legitimate children of Dr. Ortañez 60% majority of the shares of Philinterlife at
almost 3,000 share. Novicio and her family were given 4% to 5% as a token
for brokering the negotiation of shares. That up to the present, the Novicios
still own only 4% or 5% or 240 shares while the Lee group owns 94% based
on a decision of the Supreme Court, resolutions from the SEC en banc, the
Insurance Commission, the RTC, and the MeTC. Defendant filed a libel case
against the plaintiff for sending letters to DepEd and several banks claiming
that she is now the controlling officer of the corporation and that all accounts
of Philinterlife should be turned over to them. Plaintiff also asked the banks to
change the signatories of the corporation’s bank. Defendant had to publish a
notice by the group of plaintiff was fraudulent so as not to cause panic to the
public. The Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City found probable cause
after which the case was filed in court. Defendant says that due to the filing of
the case, his company suffered heavily and it affected the business
operations of Philinterlife. He is asking for exemplary damages in the amount
of P300,000.00, moral damages in the amount of P50,000.00, and attorney’s
fees in the amount of P200,000.00 to P300,000.00 and appearance fees of
P3,000.00 per hearing.

On cross-examination, defendant said that he became involved in

Philinterlife on March 25, 1983 when he bought his first shares of stocks and
became the President of Philinterlife in 1991. He came to know Divina
Ortañez-Enderes when she filed a case against him in the SEC. Defendant
filed two to three cases against plaintiff, one of which is for libel and another
for falsification. He also claims that plaintiff’s group is trying to get the whole
2,029 shares and the control of Philinterlife by claiming that they are the
majority. The libel case was filed by defendant against plaintiff and her mother
because the latter wrote banks claiming that the money should be released to
them and also because they had articles published in newspapers claiming
that they have control of Philinterlife. He also admitted to filing a complaint for
estafa against plaintiff. Lee also agreed that plaintiff did not file any single
criminal against him. He felt that the acts of the plaintiff and her group are
illegal prompting him to file cases for libel and estafa.

On re-direct, Lee testified, among others, that he became a

stockholder in 1983 with the group of Ligaya Novicio. The Lee group
(composed of the defendant, his brothers, and other shareholders) own the
majority of Philinterlife and plaintiff and her group cannot take control of the
corporation from them. Lee claimed that plaintiff and her group tried to take
over the corporation when the plaintiff’s group filed a case in the SEC in 1994.
The plaintiff’s group also tried to physically takeover the corporation from the
Lee group by force using an expired TRO. After the takeover, plaintiff’s group
had published in different newspapers that they are in control of the
corporation causing confusion to policy holders. They also sent letters to the
banks asking that the signatures of the company be changed. Defendant tried
to correct this by having newspapers publish paid advertisements to counter
those made by the plaintiff’s group. He filed falsification, estafa, and libel
cases against the plaintiff.

Atty. Ramon Carpio – The witness is the Vice-President for Legal

Affairs of Philinterlife. He testified by way of his Judicial Affidavit where he
stated, among others, that he is aware of two cases filed by defendant
against plaintiff. These cases are for libel and estafa. He is also aware of a
case filed against plaintiff’s mother, Ligaya Novicio, and Padiernos for
robbery. It was a corporate decision to file the cases. In the case for robbery,
the City Prosecutor of Quezon City found probable cause for robbery against
Ligaya Novicio and Padiernos. The case was filed to protect Philinterlife and it
was filed by the defendant in his capacity as Chairman/President. He also
stated that the cases were filed with no intention to harass the plaintiff and
that there was no malice or bad intention in filing the cases.

On cross-examination, Atty. Carpio testified, among others, that the

case for estafa and falsification filed against plaintiff and her mother was filed
in the prosecutor’s office and after preliminary investigation, the prosecutor
resolved that there was probable cause. The case was filed at the RTC in
Pasig where it was dismissed on the ground that it was an intra-corporate
matter and it was dismissed through the recommendation of the Department
of Justice. The libel complaint was filed against Ligaya Novicio. The
prosecutor found probable cause but it was dismissed in the RTC also
because it was an intra-corporate dispute. As to the criminal case for robbery,
it was not filed against plaintiff. Only the case for estafa and falsification of
private document was filed against plaintiff. Atty. Carpio joined Philinterlife in
1980 when Dr. Ortañez was president and that Lee succeeded Dr. Ortanez in
1983.