THE Supreme Court (SC) has junked the petition filed by an oil-smuggling tipster seeking to compel the government to immediately release his second claim for cash reward amounting to P272 million.
The cash reward was for vital information that led to the discovery of smuggled oil products amounting to P4 billion.
In a three-page resolution, the SC’s First Division dismissed outright the petition for certiorari and mandamus filed by Felicito Mejorado for his failure to exhaust all legal remedies available before elevating the matter to the High Tribunal.
The SC said Mejorado should have first appealed before the Office of the President (OP) the decision and resolution issued by the Department of Finance-Committee on Rewards (DOF-COR) denying his bid for the immediate release of his reward claims.
“Mejorado committed a fatal error when he proceeded directly to the Court and questioned the decision, and, later on, the resolution of the Department of Finance-Committee on Rewards—issued by the authority of the secretary of finance—which should have been appealed to the OP,” the SC said.
The SC explained that the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies requires that a party aggrieved by an order of administrative officials should first appeal to the higher administrative authority before seeking judicial relief.
“Since Mejorado did not pursue the administrative remedies available to him, his petition for certiorari and mandamus cannot prosper. The availability of the remedy of appealing the assailed decision to the Office of the President effectively proscribes the right to resort to a special civil action for certiorari and mandamus because one of the requirements to avail of these remedies is that there be no appeal nor any plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law,” the SC explained.
Earlier, Mejorado wrote to President Duterte to fast-track the release of his long-delayed reward, reiterating that through his initiative in reporting the “oil-smuggling mafia,” the government was able to collect P4 billion from the smuggling syndicates.
Mejorado insisted that that under Section 3513 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines, “a cash reward equivalent to 20 percent of the fair market value of the smuggled goods shall be given to the informers.”
The DOF-COR had earlier approved the cash reward intended for Mejorada. The SC also noted that Mejorado’s petition has already been rendered moot and academic due to the issuance of DOF-CORs decision settling the substantive aspect of his claim, the determination of his legal right to his second claim for informer’s reward.
The Department of Budget and Management had already paid Mejorado P68.682 million, which represents the first installment of his cash reward.