REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION
MANILA, BRANCH 123

ARNALDO TANG ARDIENTE,

Petitioner,

- versus - SP.PROC.No.
For: HABEAS CORPUS WITH
PRAYER FOR CUSTODY AND
PARENTAL AUTHORITY;
LILY CRUZ ARDIENTE,
Respondent.
x-----------------------------------------------x

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF ARNALDO TANG ARDIENTE

I, ARNALDO TANG ARDIENTE, of legal age, Filipino, marriage, and

petitioner in the above-entitled case, under oath, depose and say:

That Atty. Baby Manalastas, who is holding office at 4th Floor,

Rufino Bldg., University Parkway, 38th St, Taguig, Metro Manila,
conducted this examination at said office;

That I am answering said questions asked of me, to the best of my

knowledge and submitted to her authentic documents, fully conscious
that I do so under oath and that I may face criminal liability for false
testimony or perjury.

OFFER OF TESTIMONY:

The testimony of the witness is offered to prove the following:

(1)That he is capable of providing his daughter, Bernadeth

Ardiente, a comfortable life;
(2)That although the law provides that a child less than 7 years of
age should be under the custody of the mother, the petitioner is
more apt to support the education and sustenance of
Bernadeth;
(3)That petitioner is capable of sustaining all the financial needs of
Bernadeth Ardiente.

Q: Please state your name and other personal circumstances.

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A: I am Arnaldo Ardiente, Filipino, 30 years old, married; and I live in 138
Jupiter St. Bel-Air, Makati City. I am currently the Vice-President for
Ardiente Marketing Corporation

Q: How long have you been married and separated in fact with your
wife?
A: We have been married for 5 years but have been separated for 1 year.

Q: Do you have child/children?

A: Yes, we have a daughter.

Q: What is the name and age of your daughter?

A: She is Bernadeth Ardiente, 5 years old.

Q: Do you consider the address you mentioned to be the place of your

family home?
A: Yes, that is our conjugal and family home.

Q: How long have you been staying in your residence/family home?

A: I have been staying there since I graduated from college and found a
job and eventually my small family lived there, so it’s been seven years.

Q: Are you living with your family, parents, daughter, brother, or sister?
A: I live with my mother.

Q: Apart from your mother, are you staying with a house helper, driver
or anyone that maintains your residence?
A: Yes. I have 2 house helpers.

Q: So you are not living with your daughter?

A: No.

Q: How long have you been separated to your daughter?

A: About a year.

Q: How many times in a week do you see your daughter?

A: For a few months, I was able to see her once or twice a week. But
recently, I have not been seeing her at all.

Q: Can you describe your daughter before and after she left your home?
A: She is really weak now. I think she feels sad that me and her mother
are not living together anymore.

Q: How is your relationship with your daughter, how do you feel about
her being away from you?
A: I have a very close relationship with my daughter; I accompany her
every morning going to school, we watch movies, eat a lot, play outside

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our house and we like to spend quality time with each other even if we
are not doing anything. Now, I am very sad that she is not with me. I
worry about her every day.

Q: How about your relationship with her right now, was it tarnished?
A: Yes, I really think that my absence affected our relationship so much.
We are used to being together and now that we do not get to see each
other often, she thinks that I do not care for her anymore and that
makes me upset.

Q: You mentioned about your job, what exactly is your role as the Vice
President of your company?
A: I am responsible for carrying out the business strategies of our
company. As VP, I oversee operations and assign responsibilities to my
employees.

Q: Does that make you a holder of any insurance and/or health benefits,
which necessarily needs a beneficiary?
A: Yes. The directors and officers of our company all have insurances
and all employees are given proper health benefits.

Q: Who is the beneficiary of your health cards?

A: My wife and daughter, but they cannot make use of it because of our
current situation.

Q: How much, if you permit us to know, is your monthly salary?

A: About 100,000 monthly.

Q: Are you supporting anyone or have you been spending to any other
things other than the ones you need for your daily life?
A: No.

Q: Is it right that you are the one who provides for your daughter’s
financial needs?
A: Yes.

Q: What are these financial needs?

A: These include several things like her school tuition fee, all the
materials she need for school and allowance for grocery to name a few.

Q: Why did you say that you are the only one who provides for such?
A: Because I am the only one employed in our family.

Q: Is your wife employed, Mr. Witness?

A: No.

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Q: But she still has the custody?
A: Yes.

Q: Do you know where they are currently staying?

A: I think they are at my mother-in-law’s home in Malate.

Q: Can you tell us about the change of environment of your daughter in

that place and how is she coping right now?
A: I really do not have a good idea how she is. But when I last saw her and
as what my mother told me also, we noticed a huge difference from
her appearance, the way she speaks and the way she acts – and that is
probably because of the change of environment, including the people
surrounding her. I also think she is having a hard time going to school
because she used to ride a car and Malate is somehow far away from
where she is currently studying.

Q: By that statement, do you think that you should have the custody of
your child?
A: Yes, I really think that I should have the custody. Aside from I am
capable to provide for anything that she needs for her development as
a child, it is for her best interest that she stays with an environment
that she feels safe and comfortable.

AFFIANT FURTHER SAYETH NAUGHT

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have affixed my signature this 1st day of

March 2018, at Taguig City.

ARNALDO ARDIENTE
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 1st day of March

2018 AFFIANT exhibited her Driver’s License No. 1234567892.

Doc. No. 12345;

Page No. 6789;
Book No. 11121;
Series of 2017.

Atty. Gabriel Ripoll

PTR No. 1826345/NCR/1-3-2016
IBP No. 881243/MANILA III/1-10-2016

4
 ROLL No. 185434
MCLE Compliance No.III-0015823/05-01-
16
Contact No. (02)543-4574

Sworn Attestation

I, Atty. Baby Manalastas with Roll of Attorney No. 12345, under

oath depose and say:

1. I conducted and supervised the examination of witness Arnaldo

Ardiente and I attest that I faithfully recorded or caused to be recorded
the questions I asked and the corresponding answers that the witness
gave; and

2. Neither I nor any other person then present or assisting me

coached the witness regarding the latter’s answers.

DDMPR Law
Counsel for Plaintiff
4th Floor, Rufino Bldg., University Parkway,
38th St, Taguig, Metro Manila

By:

ATTY. BABY MANALASTAS

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME at the date and place

above-written, affiant showed to me his IBP No. 12345.

Doc. No. 12345;

Page No. 6789;
Book No. 11121;
Series of 2017.

5
Atty. Gabriel Ripoll
PTR No. 1826345/NCR/1-3-2016
IBP No. 881243/MANILA III/1-10-2016
ROLL No. 185434
MCLE Compliance No.III-0015823/05-01-
16
Contact No. (02)543-4574

6
 REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION
MANILA, BRANCH 123

ARNALDO TANG ARDIENTE,

Petitioner,

- versus - SP.PROC.No.
For: HABEAS CORPUS WITH
PRAYER FOR CUSTODY AND
PARENTAL AUTHORITY;
LILY CRUZ ARDIENTE,
Respondent.
x-----------------------------------------------x

JUDICIAL AFFIDAVIT OF EMILIA TANG ARDIENTE

I, EMILIA TANG ARDIENTE, of legal age, Filipino, marriage, and

petitioner in the above-entitled case, under oath, depose and say:

That Atty. Baby Manalastas, who is holding office at 4th Floor,

Rufino Bldg., University Parkway, 38th St, Taguig, Metro Manila,
conducted this examination at said office;

That I am answering said questions asked of me, to the best of my

knowledge and submitted to her authentic documents, fully conscious
that I do so under oath and that I may face criminal liability for false
testimony or perjury.

OFFER OF TESTIMONY:

The testimony of the witness is offered to prove the following:

(1) That she is the grandmother of Bernadeth and willing to support

her granddaughter;
(2) That his son, Arnaldo, is the better parent to have the custody for
the best interest of the child;
(3) That Arnaldo is has the means and capacity to support his
daughter for her own development as she continuously grows older;

Q: Would you please state your name and your personal circumstances?

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A: I am Emilia Ardiente, Filipino, 56 years old, widower; and I live in 138
Jupiter St. Bel-Air, Makati City. I am currently the consultant for Ardiente
Marketing Corporation

Q: Do you consider the said address to be the place of your family home?
A: Yes.

Q: How long have you been staying in your residence/family home?

A: I transferred in that house after the death of my husband, so I have
been living there for five years.

Q: Are you living with your family, parents, daughter/son, brother, or

sister, granddaughter/grandson?
A: I am living with my son only, but before I am with my granddaughter
and daughter-in-law.

Q: Does your son have a child/children?

A: Yes, he has a daughter.

Q: Are you living with her?

A: Yes, before my son and his wife separated. But now, not anymore.

Q: Why is your granddaughter not living with her father?

A: Because of her parents’ separation, her mother took Berndeth away
from us without telling us why.

Q: When was the last time you saw your granddaughter?

A: Probably one month ago.

Q: Did you notice something in her when she last visited you?
A: I think she is not as healthy as before; she looks weak and appears to
be going through a hardship.

Q: Why did you say that she seems physically weak and unhealthy?
A: She is not like that before. She is like a sunshine of our family; a jolly
and active child. But when I saw her, I can feel that there is something
wrong.

Q: What do you think is going on with her, is it because of their family

problem?
A: Yes, I think she really feels sad about it.

Q: Is she studying? If yes, where?

A: Yes, in Makati near our place.

Q: How does she go to school, if you know?

8
A: Usually, my son accompanies her to school in the morning. But if time
does not permit, the family driver.

Q: Would you like your granddaughter to stay in your home?

A: Yes. We love our granddaughter dearly. Her health, education and
over-all well-being are our primary consideration, and as her family, we
want to provide everything we can since we have the means.

Q: Will you be able to say that she is happy when she was still living in
your house?
A: Yes, I can say that she was truly happy during those times. We had
quality time together, like paintings, watching movies and going to
playgrounds and mall. I think she does not experience it anymore
nowadays.

Q: Now, can you tell something about her relationship with his father?
A: Bernadeth is really close with her father since they used to live with
each other. Despite the busy schedule of Arnaldo, he makes sure that he
has quality time of his daughter. He spoils her a lot and he always wants
to make it sure that she gets the best of everything. Bernadeth is her life.

Q: You mentioned about his busy schedule, why did you say so? Is
Bernadeth’s father, employed?
A: Yes, he is the Vice President of our company.

Q: So you think that he is capable of giving the best to his child?

A: Yes, of course.

Q: Now, Can you describe us your relationship with your daughter-in-

law, Lily?
A: Lily and I are just fine with each other. Before their marriage, I only
met her thrice. But when she got married to my son and eventually got
pregnant to Bernadeth, everything went well. We even live under the
same roof. I treated her as my own daughter. But when they started to
have problem in their marriage, she treated everyone in our house
differently.

Q: Do you know where she is currently staying with your

granddaughter?
A: I think she is staying in Malate.

Q: Is she employed?
A: No.

AFFIANT FURTHER SAYETH NAUGHT

9
 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have affixed my signature this 20th day
of February 2018, at Taguig City.

EMILIA ARDIENTE
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 1st day of March

2018 AFFIANT exhibited her Driver’s License No. 1234567893.

Doc. No. 12346;

Page No. 67810;
Book No. 11122;
Series of 2018.

Atty. Gabriel Ripoll

PTR No. 1826345/NCR/1-3-2016
IBP No. 881243/MANILA III/1-10-2016
ROLL No. 185434
MCLE Compliance No.III-0015823/05-01-
16
Contact No. (02)543-4574

Sworn Attestation

I, Atty. Baby Manalastas with Roll of Attorney No. 12345, under

oath depose and say:

1. I conducted and supervised the examination of witness Emilia

Ardiente and I attest that I faithfully recorded or caused to be recorded
the questions I asked and the corresponding answers that the witness
gave; and

2. Neither I nor any other person then present or assisting me

coached the witness regarding the latter’s answers.

10
 DDMPR Law
Counsel for Plaintiff
4th Floor, Rufino Bldg., University Parkway,
38th St, Taguig, Metro Manila

By:

ATTY. BABY MANALASTAS

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME at the date and place

above-written, affiant showed to me his IBP No. 12345.

Doc. No. 12347;

Page No. 6784;
Book No. 11125;
Series of 2018.

Atty. Gabriel Ripoll

PTR No. 1826345/NCR/1-3-2016
IBP No. 881243/MANILA III/1-10-2016
ROLL No. 185434
MCLE Compliance No.III-0015823/05-01-
16
Contact No. (02)543-4574

11
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