Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

11th Judicial Region

Branch _____

Davao City

TONG ZONGQUAN alias BILL CHEN

Represented by

ATTY. PHILIP JOHN L. POJAS, FOR: Collection of Sum of

Plaintiff, Money, Interest,

Damages, and Attorney’s

-versus- Fees

ARNOLD ANSALDO

Doing business under the name and style of

RAPIDE` CUSTOM WEAR,

Defendant.

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COMPLAINT

COMES NOW, plaintiff TONG ZONGQUAN alias BILL CHEN represented by ATTY.

PHILIP JOHN L. POJAS and who is likewise plaintiff’s legal counsel in this case, and

before this Honorable Court, most respectfully states THAT:

1. Plaintiff TONG ZONGQUAN alias BILL CHEN is of legal age, married, a citizen of

China, and with residence at Shanghai, Republic of China and who may be served

with orders, resolutions and other processes of the Honorable Court at the office of

his counsel Atty. Philip John Pojas at VCPC Law Firm, Suites 204-206 Carlos

Villa-Abrille Building, E. Jacinto corner C.M. Recto Sts., Davao City. Attached

hereto is a true and faithful reproduction of the Passport of Tong Zongquan as

Annex “A”;

2. Plaintiff, being a non-resident alien is represented in this case by Atty. Philip John L.

Pojas by virtue of a Special Power of Attorney executed by plaintiff and attached

hereto as Annex “B”;

3. Defendant on the other hand is ARNOLD ANSALDO, of legal age, Filipino, married

and a resident of # 4 Coral St., Marfori Heights Subdivision, Davao City where he

may be served with summons, orders, resolutions and other processes of the

Honorable Court. Defendant Arnold Ansaldo is doing business here in Davao City

under the name and style of RAPIDE` CUSTOM WEAR;

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4. Both plaintiff and defendant have the capacity to sue and be sued;

5. Plaintiff is a businessman in the Republic in China under SHANGHAI RUIJI

TRADING CO. LTD. (Rigi Sports) and engaged in the retail and wholesale of

sporting wear and equipment. Plaintiff holds out his business to international clients

through the internet or the worldwide web. Among the business sites in the internet,

plaintiff uses ALIBABA.COM where plaintiff and defendant got acquainted;

6. From the postings made by plaintiff on alibaba.com, defendant sent him an e-mail

inquiring the prices of the sporting wear and goods. Defendant likewise inquired

whether or not he could use his own business name “Rapide Customwear” to be

placed on the sporting wear themselves;

7. From then on, plaintiff and defendant had a good business relationship. Several

transactions were made. Orders were placed by the defendant online, and plaintiff

delivers the goods to defendant through private couriers EMS and FedEx. On the

other hand, before a delivery was made, defendant would initially make a

downpayment through money wire transfer via Alibaba or Paypal. Communication

between plaintiff and defendant were all made online through Skype, Gtalk, Viber,

and through exchange of e-mails;

8. The business was good between plaintiff and defendant that defendant even went to

China on January 10, 2012 for 3 days to visit the plaintiff as well as his factory.

Because of that, plaintiff slowly reposed trust and confidence upon the defendant.

Eventually, plaintiff no longer required any downpayment before plaintiff delivers the

orders placed by defendant;

9. However, things turned to sour between plaintiff and defendant. Defendant began to

be delayed in his payments to plaintiff. At first, plaintiff tolerated the same as he had

given his trust and confidence to defendant;

10. From the period covering January 6, 2012 up to May 8, 2012, defendant placed

orders and plaintiff delivered sporting wear in the amount of FOURTEEN

THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY SEVEN AND 50/100 US DOLLARS

(US$14,737.50). Attached hereto are the Proforma Invoices covering the orders

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during the said period as well as the summary statement of the orders and

deliveries made by plaintiff as Annexes “C” to “C-18” and Annex “D” respectively;

11. From the said obligation, defendant was able to pay defendant the amount of

SEVEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED TWO US DOLLARS (US$7,802.00)

only leaving a balance of SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE AND

50/100 US DOLLARS ($6,935.50);

12. Demands were made by plaintiff to defendant through Skype and e-mails to pay the

balance of SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE AND 50/100 US

DOLLARS ($6,935.50). However, defendant has made himself inconveniently

unavailable to plaintiff. Defendant deactivated his Skype account. Defendant also

no longer answered the e-mails of plaintiff. Attached hereto are the series of Skype

and e-mail conversations between plaintiff and defendant with the latter issuing

promises of payment which he never complied as Annex “E” to “E-___”;

13. In an effort to collect the balance, plaintiff was constrained to seek the help of

defendant’s wife, Cecille Duyongco. Even with the help of the wife of defendant, the

latter still refused to pay plaintiff the balance of his orders in the amount of SIX

THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE AND 50/100 US DOLLARS

($6,935.50);

14. Left with no other recourse, plaintiff was forced to retain the services of undersigned

counsel in order to send formal written demand to defendant. Several times,

undersigned counsel attempted to personally serve demand letters to the defendant

but he refused to receive the same. Undersigned counsel then sent written demand

letters through registered mail which were duly received by defendant. Attached

hereto are copies of the demand letters sent as well as the Registry Return Cards

as Annexes’ “F” to “F-3”;

15. Despite the receipt of the formal demand letters, defendant still refused with his

obligation to pay plaintiff the amount of SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED

THIRTY FIVE AND 50/200 US DOLLARS (US$6,935.00).

COMPLIANCE WITH CONDITIONS PRECEDENT

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16. The plaintiff has already complied with the requirement of demand to constitute

defendant in delay of payment as demand letters were sent to defendant through

registered mail and duly received by him as evidenced by the Registry Return Card

attached to this Complaint;

17. Plaintiff is also not required to resort to Katarungang Pambarangay Proceedings as

well as the requirements under the Local Government Code of the Philippines as he

is not a resident of the same City or Municipality with defendant, the former being a

non-resident alien and is a resident of Shanghai, China;

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION

18. There is clearly a contract of sale between plaintiff and defendant. On one hand,

plaintiff has complied with his obligation to deliver the sportswear ordered by

defendant. However, defendant is remiss in his obligation of paying for the

sportswear delivered by plaintiff.

A contract of sale is defined in Article 1458 of the Civil Code, thus:

Art. 1458. By the contract of sale, one of the contracting parties

obligates himself to transfer the ownership of and to deliver a

determinate thing, and the other to pay therefor a price certain in

money or its equivalent.

In the case at bar, after the deliveries made by plaintiff of the orders of defendant to

the latter, the defendant has the co-relative obligation of paying the purchase price

for the good already delivered.

Hence, defendant has the statutory obligation of paying the value of the unpaid

deliveries in the amount of SIX THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE

AND 50/100 US DOLLARS ($6,935.50);

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION

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19. Because of the unjustified refusal of defendant to pay his dues to plaintiff, the latter

lost potential income for the unpaid and unreceived money which entitles the plaintiff

to legal interest of twelve percent (12%) per annum of the unpaid balance of SIX

THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE AND 50/100 US DOLLARS

($6,935.50) starting from date of formal written demand on December 9, 2013 for a

total of FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE AND 48/100 US DOLLARS

(US$485.48);

THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION

20. Because of the unjustified refusal of defendant to pay the plaintiff the latter suffered

MORAL DAMAGES as a consequence of the illegal and fraudulent act of defendant

the plaintiff suffered serious anxiety and sleepless nights. By reason of the undue

and evident bad faith of the Defendant, they should be held liable for the sum of

TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (P200,000.00);

FOURTH CAUSE OF ACTION

21. Given the fact that Defendant acted in a wanton, fraudulent and malevolent manner

and in order to deter others who are similarly inclined to do the same acts, they

ought to be held liable for the sum of TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS

(P200,000.00) as EXEMPLARY DAMAGES;

FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION

22. To add to the accountability of Defendant, he shall also be liable to pay the

acceptance fees of THIRTY THOUSAND PESOS (P30,000.00) as well as

contingent fees of 25% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT CLAIMED as ATTORNEY’S

FEES premised upon the fact that Defendant’s act or omission has compelled the

Plaintiff to litigate/to incur expenses to protect his interest as well as the

APPEARANCE FEES OF TWO THOUSAND PESOS (P2,000.00) per court

hearing and the COSTS OF THIS SUIT.

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P R A Y E R

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is most respectfully prayed of this

Honorable Court after notice and hearing, to render judgment:

After trial on the merits-

1. Ordering the Defendant to pay the Plaintiff the entire unpaid amount of SIX

THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE AND 50/100 US DOLLARS

($6,935.50), plus interest of one percent (1%) per month starting from December 9,

2013;

2. Ordering the Defendant to pay the Plaintiff the sum of TWO HUNDRED

THOUSAND PESOS (P200,000.00) to serve as MORAL DAMAGES as a

consequence of the illegal and fraudulent acts of Defendant;

3. Ordering the Defendant to pay the Plaintiff the sum of TWO HUNDRED

THOUSAND PESOS (P200,000.00) as EXEMPLARY DAMAGES in order to set a

good example and for the purpose of deterring other people from committing similar

illegal and unwarranted acts;

4. Ordering the Defendant to pay the Plaintiff THIRTY THOUSAND PESOS

(P30,000.00) as ACCEPTANCE FEES and CONTINGENT FEES equivalent to

25% of the total amount claimed as ATTORNEY’S FEES and TWO THOUSAND

PESOS (P2,000.00) as APPEARANCE FEE per court hearing;

5. Ordering the Defendant to pay the costs of this suit.

Other just and equitable reliefs are likewise prayed for.

Respectfully submitted this ____ day of ____________ 2014, at Davao City,

Philippines.

TONG ZONGQUAN

Plaintiff

Represented by:

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ATTY. PHILIP JOHN L. POJAS

Assisted By:

THE LAW FIRM OF VILLARICA+,

CORONEL, POJAS & CAHARIAN

Counsel for Plaintiff

Suites 204-206, CVA Bldg., C.M. Recto

cor. Jacinto Sts., Davao City

By:

ATTY. PHILIP JOHN L. POJAS

Roll of Attorneys No. 54869

PTR NO. 3860247 – 01/02/14 – DAVAO CITY

Lifetime Member IBP NO. 011260 – 09/26/13 – MANILA

TIN 260-643-928

MCLE Compliance No. IV-0012560 January 18, 2013

Tel No. (082)2277323

Mobile No. (0908)9078957

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)

C I T Y O F D A V A O)ss

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VERIFICATION/CERTIFICATION

I, ATTY. PHILIP JOHN L. POJAS, of legal age, Filipino, married, and a resident of

#37, 2nd Street, Lougemmar Village, Old Airport Road, Sasa, Davao City, Philippines,

after being duly sworn, depose and state I am the representative of TONG ZONGQUAN

and I have caused the preparation and filing of the foregoing Complaint for and in his

behalf; that I have read and understood the contents thereof, the allegations of which are

true and correct of my own personal knowledge.

And, in compliance with Administrative Circular No. 04-94 of the Supreme Court, I

certify that plaintiff has not commenced any other similar action involving the same issues

between the same parties before any court or tribunal in the Philippines;

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Further, to the best of my personal knowledge, there is no such similar proceeding

or action which is pending in any court and should I learn that a similar action has been filed

or pending before any other tribunal, I shall undertake to report such fact within a period of

five (5) days therefrom to this Honorable Court.

Davao City, Philippines, _____________ 2014.

ATTY. PHILIP JOHN L. POJAS

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this _____ day of _______________

2014 at Davao City, Philippines, affiant exhibiting to me his ________________, issued

on _______________ at _______________________.

Doc. No. ______;

Page No. ______;

Book No. ______;

Series of 2014.

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