DIRECT EXAMINATION

1. Preliminaries and Manifestations

a. Arrive around 8:00AM
b. Go to the Staff Room – sign the Pre-Trial Order
c. Your Honor, Atty. Anselmo Rodiel IV from Ponce Enrile Reyes & Manalastas Law
Offices, appearing for the plaintiffs, and with me is our witness, Mr. Rodolfo
Esteban D. Cruz.
d. Are the parties here? Your Honor, the counsel on record Honor has already
submitted a special power of attorney to the Honorable Court, marked as Annex
_, authorizing us to appear for and represent Sonia Cruz and Estrelito Del Rosario
during the trial.
e. The witness will be sworn by the Clerk of Court.
f. Your Honor, we are ready to present our witness, Mr. Rodolfo Esteban Cruz.
g. Before we start your Honor, we would like to manifest that our witness today is
feeling unwell. He is suffering from anemia and severe headaches, so we would
like to requires that his testimony be terminated today, in compliance with the
one-day examination rule. Also, we would like to request the opposing counsel
to consider the situation of the witness in asking his cross-examination. We
would like to request that the opposing counsel refrain from being too intense or
imposing unnecessary pressure to the witness, considering his current state of
health.
h. Reminders:
i. If the opposing counsel and/or the Court will require a document proving
the witness’ bad state of health, be ready to show it to them.
ii. Ask for a short recess if the witness needs it.
iii. If the opposing counsel is raising his voice, manifest that the opposing
counsel should lower down his voice and should stop badgering the
witness.
i. Also your Honor, we would like to manifest that the Rules of Court require the
parties to submit their judicial affidavits 5 days before the pre-trial. The other
party did not do so during the pre-trial. Instead, the Honorable Court ordered
the other party to submit them before this hearing. At this point, we would like
to confirm if the other party submitted the judicial affidavits of their witnesses
prior to the hearing today, as directed by the Honorable Court during the pre-
trial last February 14, 2022. If not, for violating the Rules of Court and the
directive of the Court, we move that the submission of judicial affidavits and
supporting documents of the defendants waived. In turn, the defendants waived
the right to present testimonial evidence.
j. On our end, we would no longer present Sonia Cruz, since we did not submit a
judicial affidavit for her testimony.
k. We are offering his testimony to prove that [read the Judicial Affidavit]: (1) Sonia
Cruz and Estrelito Del Rosario, together with the siblings, are siblings and co-
owners of a house and lot, and so on and so forth…
l. May we proceed your Honor?
 2. Direct Proper
a. Mr. Cruz, do you remember executing a judicial affidavit dated November 3,
2017? Yes.
b. Your Honor, may I borrow the Court’s copy of the judicial affidavit of Mr. Cruz?
Court will give it to me.
c. I am showing you a judicial affidavit of Mr. Rodolfo Esteban D. Cruz dated
November 3, 2017, consisting of 9 pages.
d. Give him the copy of the Court. Let him browse.
e. Is this the judicial affidavit that you executed? Yes.
f. There is a signature on page 7 of the judicial affidavit. Can you please look at this
page and confirm to the Court that that is your signature? Yes.
g. There are several documents attached to the judicial affidavit. These are exhibits
A, B, C, D, E, F. Please look at these documents and tell the Court if these are the
same documents that you identified in the judicial affidavit.
h. Let him browse again.
i. Are these the documents that you identified in the judicial affidavit? Yes.
j. Please also tell us if these are the faithful reproductions of the original
documents? Yes.
k. Do you swear to the truth and veracity of the contents of the judicial affidavit?
Yes.
l. Your Honor, at this point, we would like to have Exhibit “A” permanently
marked. As directed by the Honorable Court during the last hearing, we were
asked to produce the latest copy of the TCT. We now have a TCT issued by the
Register of Deeds on June 6, 2022.
m. I would also show to the opposing counsel the 2016 and 2022 issues of the TCT
for comparison purposes.
n. That will be all for the direct examination your Honor.
3. Objections of the opposing counsel
a. [The opposing counsel will object to the questions]
b. [You will have the opportunity to explain why the questions must not be struck
out]
c. If overruled, all good.
d. If sustained, ask the Honorable Court if you can re-state the question.
i. Lay the foundation
ii. Ask questions that are not objectionable and will point towards the same
point as the question struck out.

CROSS-EXAMINATION
1. Reminder:
a. Just remember the purpose of the witness’ testimony.
b. Also, try to predict where the questions of the opposing counsel are heading.
i. If it relates to co-ownership
1. OBJECTION: already admitted by the defendants during the pre-
trial.
 ii. If it already exceeds the scope of the judicial affidavit
1. OBJECTION: irrelevant
2. OBJECTION: outside the scope
3. OBJECTION: misleading (the witness did not mention the same in
the judicial affidavit
iii. If it is about the plaintiffs not being allowed within the ancestral house
since 1998
1. If foundation is properly laid, i.e., son of Sonia; living in the same
house as Sonia; not always aware of Sonia’s whereabouts
a. Possible re-direct
iv. If it is about the sole and exclusive possession of the property
1. Again, possible re-direct
v. If it is about the income of the apartment house
1. OBJECTION: already admitted by the defendants
vi. If it is about Normita being the manager and administrator of the
apartment
1. OBJECTION: irrelevant (the defendants already showed that the
income of the apartment house is deposited under the name of
Normita.
vii. If it is about the non-involvement of Amorfina and Oscar
1. Again, possible re-direct. (Show that Amorfina, Oscar, and
Normita were united against Sonia and Estrelito in the ongoing
dispute)
2. Other objections:
a. Vague
b. Hearsay
c. Calls for narration
d. Speculative (the lawyer is speculating)
e. Testifying
f. Argumentative (the lawyer asks for a legal conclusion from the witness)
g. Incompetent (the witness is incompetent to answer the question as he is not an
expert on the subject, i.e., legal principles)
h. Badgering the witness

RE-DIRECT EXAMINATION
1) Reminder
a. KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY LAY THE FOUNDATION, WHILE STILL BEING ABLE TO
DRIVE TO YOUR POINT.
2) Regarding the plaintiffs not being allowed within the ancestral house since 1998
a. Show that during the meeting of the family, the parties confirmed that Sonia was
never able to enter the ancestral house (Not hearsay, because it is based on
Rodolfo Esteban’s own senses)
3) Regarding the defendants being in sole and exclusive possession of the property
a. Show the same thing during the meeting
 4) Regarding the non-involvement of Amorfina and Oscar
i. Show that Amorfina, Oscar, and Normita were united against Sonia and Estrelito
in the ongoing dispute

RE-CROSS EXAMINATION
1. Do the same as the cross-examination.

ORAL OFFER OF EVIDENCE

1) At this point your honor, we would like to manifest that Mr. Rodolfo Esteban Cruz is our
only witness, so we would like to orally offer our documentary evidence.
2) [Refer to the Pre-Trial Brief]
3) We’re offering Exhibit A – the TCT, and so on and so forth…
4) Reminder:
a. For the TCT, we are offering the updated TCT over the subject property, with the
no. 457-3847, to prove the fact of co-ownership of the parties involved in this
case (this is mentioned in the pre-trial brief also)
b. For the BDO passbook, we are offering the BDO passbook to prove that the 4-
door apartment house earns at least P13,200/month in 2017, and it has accrued
rentals of at least P777,517.73
c. For the Notice of Assessment, we are offering the Notice of Assessment to prove
the fact of co-ownership of the parties AND that the subject property is worth
MORE than Php20,000.
5) Before we rest our case, if the defendants would still be allowed to present their
witnesses despite the absence of judicial affidavits, we would like to ask who will be the
first witness of the defendants, your Honor.