CORDILLERA GLOBAL NETWORK vs.

PAJE
G.R. No. 215988. April 10, 2019.
EN BANC; LEONEN, J

Non-signing of the Verification and Certification against Forum Shopping; effect on

petition with multiple petitioners
Non-signing of the Verification and Certification against Forum Shopping is not fatal to an
appeal, however, the non-signing petitioners in this case shall be dropped from the petition.

Questions of Fact; When Permissible in a Petition For Review on Certiorari

As an exception to the general rule, questions of fact may be raised on the following
grounds: "when the judgment is based on a misapprehension of facts"; and "when the
findings of fact are conclusions without citation of specific evidence on which they are
based."

Rule on Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies; Exception

The rule on exhaustion of administrative remedies may be disregarded where the protestant
has no other recourse.

Petitioners and many others filed environmental cases against the DENR Secretary to assail
the latter’s permit allowing SM to cut down and earth-ball trees for their Pines Resort
Project.

The RTC held that the cases did not fall under any of the exceptions to the rule on
exhaustion of administrative remedies and thus dismissible on procedural grounds. The CA
upheld the RTC’s findings.

In the SC appeal, two more procedural grounds for dismissal were raised: (1) unsigned or
defective Verification and Certification against Forum Shopping, and (2) the appeal raises
questions of fact, not of law.

Is the appeal’s outright dismissal on procedural grounds proper?

NO.

First, the signing of the verification by some petitioners already served the purpose
contemplated by the verification. However, when it comes to the certification against forum
shopping, non-signing petitioners in this case shall be dropped from the petition.

Second, as an exception to the general rule, questions of fact may be raised here on the
following grounds: "when the judgment is based on a misapprehension of facts"; and "when
the findings of fact are conclusions without citation of specific evidence on which they are
based."

Third, the rule on exhaustion of administrative remedies may be disregarded where the
protestant has no other recourse, which applies in this case since the only remaining
administrative remedy is only available to a party that applied for an environmental
compliance certificate or certificate of noncoverage, which the petitioners are not.