05/16/2012 [ tribune.net.ph ]
The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the
decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) in favor of a local real estate developer
firm over the necessary permits to put up a residential condominium complex in
Mandaluyong City.
In its decision, the high court’s
First Division through Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro denied the
petition filed by the Addition Hills Mandaluyong Civic and Social Organization
Inc. (AHMCSO) against Megaworld Properties and Holdings Inc. and Wilfredo
Imperial, in his capacity as director of the National Capital Region Unit of
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).
Other members of the tribunal’s First
Division are Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Lucas Bersamin, Mariano
del Castillo and Martin Villarama Jr.
The decision pointed out that the
organization opposing the developer’s project failed to exhaust all other
administrative remedies before elevating the case to the tribunal.
“A litigant cannot go around the
authority of the concerned administrative agency and directly seek redress from
the courts. Thus, when the law provides for a remedy against a certain action
of an administrative board, body, or officer, relief to the courts can be made
only after exhausting all remedies provided therein. It is settled that the
non-observance of the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies results
in lack of cause of action, which is one of the grounds in the Rules of Court
justifying the dismissal of the complaint,” the SC said.
The court added that the CA committed
no reversible error in setting aside the trial court decision and dismissing
the complaint.
Megaworld was the registered owner of
a parcel of land located along Lee Street, Barangay Addition Hills, Mandaluyong
City with an area of 6,148 square meters. In 1994, the firm conceptualized the
construction of a residential condominium complex on the parcel of land called
the Wack-Wack Heights Condominium consisting of a cluster of six four-story
buildings and one 17-story tower.
The developer then secured the
necessary clearances, licenses and permits for the condominium project,
including a Certificate of Locational Viability (CLV), and a Development
Permit, both by the HLURB; an Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC), by the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); a Building Permit, by
the Office of the Building Official of Mandaluyong City, and a Barangay
Clearance, from the office of the Barangay Chairman of Addition Hills.
Construction of the condominium
project began, but on June 30, 1995, AHMCSO filed a complaint before the
Regional Trial Court of Pasig City Branch 158 to annul the Building Permit,
CLV, ECC and Development Permit granted to Megaworld; to prohibit the issuance
to Megaworld of Certificate of Registration and License to Sell Condominium
Units, and to permanently enjoin local and national building officials from
issuing licenses and permits to the firm.
Megaworld filed a Motion to Dismiss
the case for lack of cause of action and that jurisdiction over the case was
with the HLURB and not with the regular courts.The trial court rendered a
Decision dated Sept. 10, 1998 in favor of AHMCSO and directed Megaworld to
rectify its Wack Wack Heights Project for it to conform to the requirements of
an R-2 zone of Mandaluyong City and of the Metro Manila Zoning Ordinance 81-01.
The firm appealed to the CA which
reversed and set aside the aforementioned trial court ruling, prompting the
AHMCSO to take the case to the high court.
Ruling in favor of the developer, the
SC explained that “(w)hat is apparent...is that petitioner (AHMSCO)
unjustifiably failed to exhaust the administrative remedies available with the
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) before seeking recourse with the
trial court.”
“Under the rules of the HLURB... a
complaint to annul any permit issued by the HLURB may be filed before the
Housing and Land Use Arbiter (HLA). Therefore, petitioner’s action to annul the
Certificate of Locational Viability (CLV) and the Development Permit issued by
the HLURB on Oct. 25, 1994 and Nov. 11, 1994, respectively, in favor of private
respondent for its Wack-Wack Heights Condominium Project should have been
properly filed before the HLURB instead of the trial court,” the SC explained.
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