Decision
5
G.R. No. 212607
First and foremost, the CA was incorrect in holding that a motion for
reconsideration was an available remedy at the disposal of PDSPI in
questioning NCIP RHO IV's Order dated January 14, 2013.
According to NCIP Administrative Circular No. 1, Series of 2003, or
the Rules on Pleadings, Practice and Procedure Before the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (2003 NCIP Rules of Procedure), the
Rules of Procedure governing actions before NCIP at the time of the instant
controversy, only one motion for reconsideration shall be entertained before
the RH0. 26 In the instant case, PDSPI had already filed a Motion for
Reconsideration dated December 10, 2012, barring it from filing another
similar motion before the NCIP RHO IV.
Neither can it be validly argued that the NCIP RHO IV's Order
denying due course to PDSPI' s Memorandum on Appeal should have first
·
been appealed before the NCIP En Banc.
According to Section 97, Rule XVII of the 2003 NCIP Rules of
Procedure, the provisions of the Rules of Court shall apply in an analogous
and suppletory character. Hence, following Section 1, Rule 41 of the Rules
of Court, which states that an appeal may be taken only from a judgment or
final order that completely disposes the case, and that an appeal may not be
taken from an order disallowing an appeal, the NCIP RHO IV' s Order
denying due course to PDSPI's appeal cannot be subject of an appeal before
the NCIP En Banc.
In any case, although the general rule states that the filing of a prior
motion for reconsideration is a condition sine qua non for the filing of a
petition for certiorari, such rule is subject to well-recognized exceptions.
Jurisprudence has held that the special civil action of certiorari will lie even
without a party first availing itself of a motion for reconsideration if, among
other exceptions, the order challenged is a patent nullity or where the
issue raised is one purely of law. 27
Moreover, while the general rule dictates that it must be first shown
that all the administrative remedies prescribed by law have been exhausted
before filing an extraordinary action for certiorari under the principle of
exhaustion of administrative remedies, there are however exceptions to this
rule, such as where the issue is purely a legal one or where the
controverted act is patently illegal. 28
Applying the foregoing to the instant case, the issue raised by PDSPI
in the instant Petition, i.e., the correct reglementary period applicable with
26
27
28
2003 NCIP Rules of Procedure, Sec. 45.
Siok Ping Tang v. Subic Bay Distribution, Inc., 653 Phil. 124, 136-137 (2010).
Industrial Power Sales, Inc. v. Sinsuat, 243 Phil. 184, 185 (1988).