Republic of the Philippines

MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT

9th Judicial Region
Branch 1
Zamboanga City

JACKIE CORPUZ y MONTEFALCO, CRIMINAL CASE NO. 2018-1020

Plaintiff,

- Versus - -for –

ACE CORPUZ y BARAMEDA CONCUBINAGE as defined

and and penalized under Article 334
JADE BARTOLOME y SOLIS, of the Revised Penal Code
Accused.
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COUNTER-AFFIDAVIT

I, ACE CORPUZ y BARAMEDA, Filipino, of legal age, married, and a

resident of Navarro Court, Sta. Maria, Zamboanga City, Philippines, after
having been duly sworn to in accordance with law, under oath hereby
DEPOSE and STATE:

1. That I am one of the Respondents in the above-entitled case;

2. That I received the subpoena dated 05 November 2018 from the

Honorable Office, requiring me to submit my counter-affidavit
and other supporting documents on a Complaint filed by one
JACKIE CORPUZ y MONTEFALCO for concubinage against me
and JADE BARTOLOME y SOLIS;

3. That upon the receipt of the afore-stated subpoena, Respondents

were given ten (10) days to submit said documents. Hence, the
foregoing is timely filed;

4. That foremost, I vehemently deny and condemn the baseless and

unfounded accusations levelled against me by my wife Jackie M.

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Corpuz, and that the truth of the whole incident is narrated
hereunder as follows:

a. On 16 November 2016, my co-accused Jade S. Bartolome

was introduced to me by my brother Ace T. Barameda II. She
was introduced to me as his girlfriend, he asked me if I can
help her get a job from our construction firm, The 4P
Construction Firm, since she is new to the city and it is hard
to find a job now a days.

b. No one in my family knows that I and my half-brother are

communicating again. Our family has been in dispute for
several years for certain reasons.

c. Being close to my half-brother, I made it possible to ask the

manager of our canteen if Jade S. Bartolome be hired to any
position available.

d. The following month, she was hires as a waitress in the

canteen of our Construction Firm. I apologized for it is the
only vacancy in the firm and being a medicine student, the
job may not suit her. She told me that it was ok, it is better
than nothing. There are several occasion that I would catch
up with her at the canteen, have small talk.

e. Through the months that I have known Jade as the girlfriend

of my brother, we became close. While it is true that we are
chatting frequently and going out together but all those
times we were talking about her and my brother Ace II and
their plans. The nights that we were out, my brother was also
with us.

f. Their relationship was not known to everyone because Jade

was already betrothed to an old politician in their province.
Their meetings were mostly in secret and I have conspired
with my brother to help him in meeting Jade.

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g. A month before Jade was hired as our house help, my
brother asked me if Jade can stay at our house because her
parents are looking for her and Jade cannot stay with him in
their house because his mother will also be furious with him.
I told my brother Ace T. Barameda II that I have to ask my
wife’s permission on the matter but he insisted not to tell
Jackie that Jade is his girlfriend because Jackie would spill
their relation to other family members and they intend to
keep their relationship in secret.

h. The days has gone by and I was not able to ask for my wife’s
permission. On February 18, 2018, Jade and Ace II asked me
insistently if Jade can stay at our house because her parents
was at the staff house forcing her to go home. The following
day I ask my wife if it is fine with her if we will hire a house
help since she is always out and no one is taking care of the
things in our house. Jackie then agreed. The following day, I
brought jade in our home as a house-help. It was about 10
pm when Jackie arrived and I introduced Jade to her as our
new house-help. She did not pay any attention and was
complaining that she was already tired and told us that she
would orient the new maid the following day.

i. On the same night, I got the chance to talk to Jackie and

assured her that Jade can be trusted, she just nod and want
back to work which is what she usually do. Jackie would
usually leave early for work and come home late, when at
home she would still work. That is all for her, work work work
and she barely has time for me, even on weekends.

j. While it is true that through the months we have grown close

to each other, she also confided with me that she was a
Medicine student in Iligan City, she was already in her third
year but because of her engagement to the politician, she
ran away to escape the engagement. Months go by, we
would go and buy groceries together but Jade would always
end up with my brother and left me doing all the grocery

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 shopping and it is also true regarding giving cooking tips
because I was helping her and for me to be able to eat a
good meal at home.

k. On August 11, 2018, Ace II, Jade and I had dinner at a KTV
Bar and the two announced to their great news that Jade was
8 weeks pregnant. They even showed me the ultrasound
printed copies.

l. That around 12:15 AM on September 20, 2018, I woke from a

bad dream. I got thirsty so I decided to go to the kitchen to
get a glass of water to drink. On my way back to our
bedroom passing by Jade’s room, I heard Jade crying. From
the sound of it, it was obvious that she was in great pain. I
saw her sitting at the edge of her bed, I asked her what was
the matter and she replied, stating that she is experiencing
stomach cramps so badly and that she was spotting. I asked
her what can I do. As a med student, she told me that she
might be experiencing miscarriage, I got so worried and
don’t know what to do. She told me help her lay down flat. I
asked her how far along was she. She told me she was
entering the second trimester and miscarriage is unlikely.
Which gave me some relief, she was carrying my first
nephew or niece. She asked me if I can get her massage oil
which I did, While I was helping Jade with her clothes so that
she can apply her oil, my wife Jackie barged into the room.
Without hearing our side, she accused us of having an affair.
Furious, she yelled at us and threw hurtful words. She was
trying to hurt Jade and I got in between them. Jade was able
to recover, she hurriedly went out of the house and was
bringing with her her usual bag pack. I carried Jackie to our
room to make her listen but she refused to and kept in
hitting me instead. I told her that it’s her fault because she
has no time for me and devoted all her time, her days even
her nights to her job and if only she would give me time to
tell her everything yet she kept on shouting, she kept
throwing things towards me, smashing everything she holds.

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 I got pissed off with her attitude and told her that I will let
her be and told her that I am always available when she is
willing to talk. Went out, got into my car and drove off the
driveway. Jackie followed me and still kept on throwing
things at my direction.

m. That when I left our house, I went straight to my brother’s

house and found Jade at the gate while Ace II and his
mother was arguing. After a while they did let us get inside
the house and all the three of us clarified our situation with
my brother’s mother.

n. I vehemently deny that I have told any of my friends that

Jade is my girlfriend and that she is also pregnant with my
child. While it is true that I have been willing and eagerly
looking forward in having a baby but I would like to have it
with my wife, unfortunately she was already married with her
work before marrying me. Three years of being married, she
did not consider in having a child, would always give an
excuse.

o. Form the date of the incident, I have been reaching out to

my wife, for her to listen but she was so stubborn. I would
always call her, every time I can have the chance to call her
but she would always ignore the same. I have sent her emails
every day, telling her that I am sorry for not telling her about
the secret between me, my brother and Jade. I never got a
response not until last week October 28, 2018, she replied to
one of my emails saying that she is now re-considering
things and she’s willing to talk things out, our conversation
thru email went on that day. I told her everything she
needed to know and asked her if she’s willing to meet to
settle things between us. She asked me if we can go abroad
and get away from everything and start anew. I told her it’s a
great idea. Later on that day she sent me tour package to
Maldives, she even paid for it using her credit card. We were
scheduled to meet on November 5, 2018, instead of meeting

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 and go out on a date as what we have agreed, I received a
subpoena, together with my lawyer, we posted a bail and so
did Jade Bartolome. The said email loop was submitted to
the Cyber Crime Division of the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) for the authentication of the same. The
screenshot copy of the emails is attached as “ANNEX 2-A” and
the Certification of Authenticity is hereto attached as “ANNEX
2-B”

5. Further, in response to the subject Complaint, Respondent

categorically denies the allegations specified under Paragraph 31
of the Sworn Statement of the complainant:

a. The picture with the note at the back is not real, the note was
not written by me and it is not my hand writing. The
condoms are ours, we do have a stash because Jackie does
not want to get pregnant yet.

6. It is respectfully submitted that the Complaint failed to establish

the elements of the crime of Concubinage under the Revised Penal
Code. The complainant alleged that:

“[That] on September 20, 2017, in the City of

Zamboanga, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of
this Honorable Court, the accused ACE CORPUZ y
BARAMEDA, who is the husband of the undersigned
Complainant, cohabited and lived together with his
co-accused JADE BARTOLOME y SOLIS as husband
and wife in the conjugal dwelling, the accuse JADE
BARTOLOME y SOLIS knowing fully well that
accused ACE CORPUZ y BARAMEDA was very much a
married man”. (emphasis supplied)

In People of the Philippine Islands vs. Pedro Pitoc and

Marciana del Basco (G.R. No. 18513), it was stated that:
“The word cohabit has many different meanings, each
depending upon the sense in which it is used. Here, we have

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 a law intended to prohibit a married man from keeping a
mistress in his dwelling or anywhere else under “scandalous
circumstances”. Hence, the meaning of the word cohabit
here must relate must relate and be confined to the subject
matter of the law itself. When used in that sense, it should be
construed to mean “to dwell or live together as husband
and wife; to live together as husband and wife although
not legally married; to live together in the same house,
claiming to be married; to live together at bed and
board.” (Corpus Juris, vol. 11, p. 950).” (emphasis supplied)

Further, it was stated that: “To cohabit, according to the

sense in which the word is used in a penal statute, means
dwelling together as husband and wife, or on sexual
intercourse, and comprises a continued period of time.
Hence, the offense is not the single act of adultery, it is
cohabiting in the state of adultery, and it may be a week, a
month, a year, or longer, but still it is one offense only.”
(emphasis supplied)

jade and I have not lived, nor are living, together as husband and
wife or at bed and board nor we claimed to be married.

When Jade was hired as our housemaid from 20 February 2018

until the time her employment with us was terminated (20
September 2018). Thus, it is our submission that Jade and I did
not live as husband and wife nor did we claim as such. We also
did not live together at bed and board.

7. It is also respectfully submitted that the complaint merely

capitalized on pieces of evidence that are irrelevant and which do
not tend to prove the existence of the elements of concubinage
as charged. The complaint alleged that Jade and I cohabited in
the conjugal dwelling but the evidence presented does tend to
prove the probable existence of the same. The complainant
merely concocted her own distorted assertions in order to
wrongfully implicate the respondents. Thus, respondents should

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 not be prosecuted based on mere conjecture and suppositions
made by the Complainant;

8. Respondent executes the foregoing affidavit in order to rebut,

refute, and deny all the baseless accusations contained in the
Complaint and assail that the complainant gave her pardon to
the accused ACE CORPUZ y BARAMEDA and in order to cause
the outright dismissal of the same for utter lack of merit.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature on this

10th day of NOVEMBER 2018, in Zamboanga City, Philippines.

ACE B. CORPUZ
Respondent-Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this 10 th day of

NOVEMBER 2018 in Zamboanga City, Philippines.

Doc. No. _______ ATTY. JENESSA S. VICENTE

Page No. _______ Roll No. 880814-0123458
Book No. _______ PTR No. 011418 / January 5, 2018 - Z.C.
Series of 2018 IBP No. 965874 / January 4, 2017 - ZAMBASULTA
MCLE 5th Compliance No. V-000335 / 04-28-2018 to 04-28-2019
Zamboanga City

CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that I have examined herein affiant and I am satisfied

that he executed the same freely and voluntarily.

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Doc. No. _______
Page No. _______ ATTY. JENESSA S. VICENTE
Book No. _______ Roll No. 880814-0123458

Series of 2018 PTR No. 011418 / January 5, 2018 - Z.C.

IBP No. 965874 / January 4, 2017 - ZAMBASULTA
MCLE 5th Compliance No. V-000335 / 04-28-2018 to 04-28-2019
Zamboanga City