G.R. No. 189290 November 29, 2017
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, represented by the ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT BUREAU, REGION VII, and NOEL C. EMPLEO, Regional Director, Petitioners, vs. O.G. HOLDINGS CORPORATION, represented by its Chairman, MR. FREDERICK L. ONG, Respondent.

FACTS

The Environmental Management Bureau, Region VII (EMB-Region VII) issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) to O.G. Holdings Corporation for its Panglao Island Nature Resort project, subject to several conditions. One condition required the submission of a marine study report within thirty days from receipt of the ECC. Years later, EMB-Region VII discovered that O.G. Holdings had not submitted the required marine study report. Consequently, EMB-Region VII issued orders suspending the ECC and halting the resort’s operations for violating Presidential Decree No. 1586, the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System.
O.G. Holdings filed a Petition for Certiorari with the Court of Appeals, arguing that EMB-Region VII acted with grave abuse of discretion. The Court of Appeals granted the petition, nullifying the suspension orders. It ruled that O.G. Holdings should have first exhausted administrative remedies by appealing to the Office of the DENR Secretary before seeking judicial relief. The Republic, through EMB-Region VII, elevated the case to the Supreme Court via a Petition for Review on Certiorari.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in ruling that O.G. Holdings was not required to exhaust administrative remedies before filing its Petition for Certiorari.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the petition and reversed the Court of Appeals. The Court held that the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies was applicable and mandatory. An ECC is an administrative permit issued under P.D. No. 1586, and its suspension is an administrative act. The law provides a clear administrative appeal process: an aggrieved party must appeal an EMB Regional Director’s order to the DENR Secretary. Only after this administrative appeal may judicial recourse be sought.
The Court found no valid exception to excuse O.G. Holdings from this requirement. The issues involved were not purely legal, as they required factual determination of compliance with ECC conditions. There was no showing of urgency, irreparable injury, or patent illegality in the EMB’s act of enforcing a clear condition of the ECC. The suspension was a preliminary step in an administrative process, not a final order depriving the resort of its right to operate permanently without recourse. By directly filing a certiorari petition, O.G. Holdings prematurely sought judicial intervention, warranting its dismissal for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The case was remanded to the DENR Secretary for the proper administrative appeal.