Republic of the Philippines )

Province of La Union ) s.s.

Municipality of Agoo )
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COUNTER-AFFIDAVIT OF RESPONDENT

THE UNDERSIGNED RESPONDENT, through counsel, under oath hereby respectfully

deposes and states:

THE INSTANT CRIMINAL COMPLAINT IS PERJURIOUS, MALICIOUS, FELONIOUS, BASELESS,

UNFOUNDED, AND UNJUST FABRICATION.

1. Before proceeding any further, the Respondent hereby states that the instant
complaint of the Complainant JASMINE ABRIEL CRUZ y Baldemor, 17 years old, single
and a resident of Barangay San Juan, Agoo, La Union, is a perjurious, malicious,
felonious, baseless, unfounded and unjust FABRICATION by the Complainant intended
to slander and disparage the reputation of the respondent in the community
2. The Respondent categorically states that:
a. I did not and will never perform nor do the alleged ACT OF LASCIVIOUSNESS
under any of the circumstances mentioned in law, against the Complainant, nor
to anybody else, at anytime or in any place.
b. I admit that during the alleged time and date, it was one of the few and far in
between occasions when I drank alcohol. I specifically deny that it was a
drinking spree as there were only very limited amount of alcohol to consume
that it soon came to end after I joined in the drinking occasion while the time
was still early at around 7:00 o’clock in the evening of April 25, 2018 in Barangay
San Juan, Agoo, La Union.
c. At that time and place, I was only invited by relatives (give names) who were
already drinking as I joined them. I only obliged to their invitation to drink with
them for the purpose of pakikisama (fellowship), and never intended nor
originally caused the drinking occasion.
d. I admit that I am the live-in partner of MARICAR BALDEMOR who is the aunty of
the Complainant and who I presently live with at Barangay San Juan, Agoo, La
Union, in a room in the same house where the Complainant also resides at
Barangay San Juan, Agoo, La Union.
e. Assuming without admitting that I attempted to kiss, and actually groped the
buttocks of the Complainant, it could not have been a lascivious act, as there
was no lewd design considering the circumstances and environment where it
supposedly happened. This is explained in my statement of the true facts in the
succeeding paragraph.
f. The true facts are enumerated and discussed below:
i. At around six o’clock in the evening of April 25, 2018, I arrived at the
house located in Barangay San Juan, Agoo, La Union; and at about that
same time, I saw John Baldemor, Pedro Cruz, and Michael Cruz drinking
alcohol at the terrace of the same house.
 ii. As I arrived, I was met by Michael Cruz who subsequently invited me to
join them at the table for a drink. I obliged to the invitation as I didn’t
want anybody to think that I don’t have any sense of fellowship
(pakikisama).
iii. Michael Cruz handed over to me a glass cup less than half full filled with
Emperador light and told me to drink (uttering in ilocano: “tagay mo na
ta kumamat ka!”) so I again obliged by drinking. It was then that I
observed that there was only one bottle of Emperador light which was
nearly half empty.
iv. In the course of our drinking, the group were telling stories to each
other, and at some point, I was told by Pedro Cruz that days earlier that
week, Raul Ramirez separated from and left for good Jasmine Abriel
Cruz. Raul and Jasmine were dating partners and were de facto living
together like husband and wife without the benefit of marriage
ceremony. They were in fact sleeping together in Jasmine’s own small
room using only a single-sized bed in the common house.
v. Also in the course of the same occasion, I observed that the place of
drinking at the terrace of the common house where the alleged act
happened was well lit as usual, and public to every person residing in
the common house. It was within earshot to hear any sound of the
slightest commotion and within close view of every person living inside
the common house to see clearly and openly without any obstruction;
vi. As the Emperador light bottle was almost empty, I stood up to take a
leak, I felt light-headedness at the time. At the same time that I stood
up, John Baldemor and Pedro Cruz also stood up, without saying
anything, they left. John moved towards the interior of the house and
Pedro went outside the house compound and outside the fence.
Michael was still sitting at that time and sipping the alcohol from his
glass cup when I turned my back to him.
vii. while walking towards the fence of our common house, I observed that
my gait was not normal like I was already dizzy from the alcohol
consumption. The fence was only about very few meters away from the
drinking table. And as I finished to pee and was about to walk back, I
heard my dating partner, Maricar Baldemor calling and asking me
“papanam manen, alas otson. rumabiin?” (where are you going again,
it’s eight o’clock and getting late?), to which I answered back, “wen!”
(yes!).
viii. as I walked back to the table after peeing, I did not see Michael Cruz at
the table anymore, but I saw complainant, Jasmine Abriel Baldemor
Cruz, starting to clear and bus out the dishes at our table.
ix. I continued to walk towards the table to where I attempted to help clear
the dishes thereon, and as I bent over towards the dishes, Jasmine and I
had face to face moment too close that I could smell her hair and hear
her breath. To me it was a very casual gesture as the table was small in
size of about 2feet by 2feet only, and it was natural that we would get
close as I did reach out for items on the table to dish out. That was then
the time that she pushed me back with a snide as if I had done
 something spiteful and malicious, and instantaneously, she left and
moved towards the house, dropping and leaving all the dish items on
the table. It surprised me about her manners.
x. during the alleged time, a few minutes before eight o’clock in the
evening of April 25, 2018, it was still too early in the evening where
everyone are still awake, and were still preparing to sleep, and
g. There could have been no crime of sexual abuse of a child under RA 7610 when I
have not committed any lascivious act against the Complainant;
h. The complainant was mistaken and had misunderstood by gait when I
approached the table. I admit that as I was already at the table, I was also very
close to the Complainant. She mistook my bodily gestures while I was near her
side, and misunderstood as lewd my intentions. She was impressed with the
wrong illusion and afflicted with paranoia of my true intention as I got
unintentionally and was probably physically too close to her side.

Nothing in the Record proves that the herein Respondent committed any of the essential
elements of Acts of Lasciviousness as defined by the Revised Penal Code.

LAW AND JURISPRUDENCE ON ACTS OF LASCIVIOUSNESS

Clearly, any further prosecution of petitioner is pure and simple harassment. It is imperative
that he be spared from the trauma of having to go to trial on such a baseless complaint. The
evidence is insufficient to sustain a prima facie case and it is evident that no probable cause
exists to form a sufficient belief as to the petitioner’s guilt.

WHEREFORE, in the interest of justice, it is respectfully prayed that the instant criminal
complaint be DISMISSED for lack of merit.

FURTHER, the respondent respectfully prays for such and other reliefs as may be deemed just
and equitable in the premises.

Municipality of Agoo, Province of La Union, 10th of May 2018.

CHRISTIAN G. NEVERIDA