Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan Corrales Ave.

, Cagayan de Oro City College of Law

ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES

Submitted By: Pandita, Salman Pondoyo, Gregor Alfonsin Superable, Joanna Bianca Valledor, Coreine Imee Villacura, Jonalyn

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for Legal Research under Atty. Chester Chua-Castaos for A.Y. 2012-2013, 1st Semester

September 24, 2012

Administrative Agency is a body, other than the courts and the legislative, endowed with quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial powers for the purpose of enabling it to carry out laws entrusted to it for enforcement or execution. Administrative Agencies are created by the following manner: (1) By Constitutional provision; (2) By legislative enactment; or (3) By authority of law. The 1987 Constitution directly creates these administrative agencies: (1) Civil Service Commission (Art. IX-B); (2) The Commission on Elections (Art. IX-C); (3) Commission on Audit (Art. IX-D); (4) Office of the Ombudsman and his Deputies (Art. IX, Sec. 5); (5) Commission on Human Rights (Art. XIII, Sec. 17). The administrative agencies mentioned above cannot be abolished by a mere statute. The courts cannot and will not resolve a controversy involving a question which is within the jurisdiction of an administrative tribunal, where the question demands the exercise of sound administrative discretion requiring the special knowledge, experience, and services of the administrative tribunal to determine technical and intricate matters. I. Administrative Agencies A. Agency Any department, bureau, office commission, authority or officer of the National Government. B. Types of Administrative Agencies a. b. c. d. e. Administrative bodies for regulation under police power, i.e. LTO Administrative bodies for regulation of public utilities, i.e. LTFRB Administrative bodies that grants privileges, i.e. Bureau of Lands Administrative bodies carrying out the actual business of government, i.e. BIR Administrative bodies for regulation of private business and individuals, i.e. SEC f. Administrative bodies that perform some business service for the public, i.e. Bureau of Posts g. Administrative bodies that adjudicates and decides industrial controversies, i.e. NLRC h. Administrative bodies making the government a private party, i.e. GSIS C. Powers of Administrative Agencies Quasi-Legislative Power

The authority delegated by the law-making body to the administrative body to adopt rules and regulations intended to carry out the provisions of a law and implement the legislative policy. Kinds of Administrative Rules and Regulations: 1. Legislative rules- designed to implement a primary legislation by providing the details thereof; it is the nature of subordinate legislation. a. Supplementary regulation- also called detailed legislation regulation, intended to fill in the details of the law, and to make explicit what is only general. b. Contingent regulation- issued to enforce or suspend the operation of a law, after the ascertainment by the administrative agency of existence of a particular contingent. 2. Interpretative rule- those which purport to do no more than interpret the statue being administered for proper observance by the people. 3. It must be reasonable: Standards of Reasonableness a. Must involve public welfare b. The method employed must be reasonably related to the purpose of the rule c. Not arbitrary d. Must declare the legislative policy 4. Promulgated in accordance with the prescribed procedure: a. Notice and hearing- generally, administrative regulations of general application do not require previous notice and hearings. It is essential only when: i. The legislature itself requires it and mandates that the regulation shall be based on certain facts as determined at an appropriate investigation ii. The regulation is a settlement of a controversy between specific parties. b. Publication- administrative rules and regulations must be published if their purpose is to enforce or implement existing law pursuant to a valid delegation (Tanada v. Tuvera, No. L-63915). Exceptions include: i. Interpretative rules and regulations ii. Those merely internal in nature iii. Letters of instruction issued by superiors Requisites for Validity of Administrative Rules with Penal Sanctions 1) Law itself must declare as punishable the violation of an administrative rules or regulation

2) Law itself should define or fix penalty therefore 3) Rules or regulation must be published Doctrine of Subordinate Legislation- power of administrative agency to promulgate rules and regulations on matters of their own specialization Doctrine of Legislative Approval by Enactment- the rules and regulations promulgated by the proper administrative agency implementing the law are deemed confirmed and approved by the legislature when said law was reenacted by later legislation or through codification. The legislature is presumed to have full knowledge of the contents of the regulations then at the time of reenactment.

D. Determinative Powers The power of administrative agencies to better enable them to exercise their quasi-judicial authority. 1) Enabling- permits the doing of an act which the law undertakes to regulate and which would be unlawful without government approval, i.e. issuance of drivers license by LTO 2) Directing- orders the doing or performance of particular acts to ensure compliance with the law and are often exercised for corrective purposes, i.e. order of reinstatement by the NLRC. a. Dispensing- to relax the general operation of a law or to exempt from general prohibition, or to relieve an individual or a corporation from an affirmative duty, i.e. exemption granted by BIR b. Examining- also called investigatory power, consists in requiring production of books, papers, etc., the attendance of witnesses and compelling their testimony, I.e. issuing of subpoenas. c. Summary- power to apply compulsion or force against persons or properly to effectuate a legal purpose without judicial warrants to authorize such actions i.e., summary abatement of nuisance per se. Other Powers and Functions of Administrative Agencies A. Fixing Rates, Wages and Prices

a. Legislative function- the rates are meant to apply to all enterprises of a given kind throughout the country (prior notice and hearing not required). b. Quasi-judicial function- rates apply exclusively to a particular party, based upon a finding of fact (prior notice and hearing required). Factors to consider in rate fixing: -Rates should not be confiscatory -Should provide reasonable return on investments -Must be unreasonable and just Administrative agencies can be empowered to provisionally approve reates of public utilities even without a hearing or ex parte. Provisional Authority- an order granting a temporary permit to operate a particular utility service immediate issued during the pendency of an application for a franchise or certificate of public convenience for said service on the main of urgent public need therefore. B. Licensing The action of an administrative agency in granting or denying or suspending or revoking a license, permit, or franchise is not purely administrative but quasijudicial or adjudicatory since it is dependent upon the ascertainment of facts by the administrative agency, upon which a decision is to be made and rights and liabilities determined. C. Investigative Administrative agencies can be authorized to make investigation for a limited purpose, which is to obtain information on which future action of a legislative or judicial nature may be taken.

II. Administrative Remedies A. DOCTRINE OF EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES Whenever there is an available administrative remedy provided by law, no judicial recourse can be made until all such remedies have been availed of and

exhausted. An administrative decision must be appealed to the administrative superior up to the highest level before elevating it to the court for review. (Philippine Health Insurance Corp. v. Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, G.R. No. 163123, April 15, 2005). B. Applicability: Exhaustion of administrative remedies is applicable when there is competence on the part of the administrative body to act on the matter complained of. Administrative agencies are not courts; neither are they part of the judicial system, nor are they deemed judicial tribunals (Regino v. Pangasinan Colleges of Science and Technology, G.R. No. 156109, November 18, 2004).

The doctrine need not be observed when it is not expressly required by law or when the statute providing for the administrative remedy is merely permissive (C.N. Hodges v. City of Iloilo, L-18276, January 12, 1967). C. Reasons for the Doctrine: 1. To enable the administrative superiors to correct the errors commited by their subordinates. 2. Courts should refrain from disturbing the findings of administrative bodies in deference to the doctrine of separation of powers. 3. Courts should not be saddled with the review of administrative cases. 4. Judicial review of administrative cases is usually effected through special civil actions which are available only if there is no other plain, speedy and adequate remedy. D. Effect of Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies Jurisdiction of the court is notaffected and merely results in the lack of cause of action which may be invoked in a motion to dismiss. The principle of exhaustion of administrative remedies precludes a court from granting an action for replevin to recover a movable property which is the subject matter of an administrative forfeiture proceeding as the party's relief during the pendency of administrative proceedings (Paat v. CA, G.R. No.

111107, January 10, 1997). E. Exceptions to the Doctrine: 1. When there is a violation of due process; 2. When the issue involved is a purely legal question; 3. When the administrative action is patently illegal amounting to lavk or excess of jurisdiction; 4.When there is estoppel on the part of the administrative agency concerned; 5. When there is irreparable injury; 6. When the respondent is a Department Secretary whose acts as an alter ego of the President bears the implied and assumed approval of the latter; 7. When to require exhaustion of administrative remedies would be unreasonable; 8. When it would amount to a nullification of a claim; 9. When the subject matter is a private land in land case proceedings; 10. When the rule does not provide a plain, speedy, adequate remedy; 11. When there are circumstances indicating the urgency of judicial intervention; 12. When no administrative review is provided by law; 13. When the issue of non-exhaustion of administrative remedies has been rendered moot (Laguna CATV Network v. Maraan; G.R. No. 139492, November 19, 2002); 14. When strong public interest is involved; and 15. In cases of petition for writ of amparo. F. DOCTRINE OF FINALITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION No resort to courts will be allowed unless administrative action has been completed and there is nothing left to be done in administrative structure.

A party aggrieved must not merely initiate the prescribed administrative procedure to obtain a relief but also must pursue it to its appropriate conclusion. (Jariol v. Commision on Elections, G.R. No. 127456, March 20, 1997). Instances when court may intervene prior to the completion of an administrative action: a. When the administrative officer assumes to act in violation of the Constitution and other laws. b. When a question order is not reviewable in any other way, and the complainant will suffer great and obvious damage if the order is carried out, or when such relief is expressly allowed by law c. When the questioned order is made in excess of power.

Judicial relief from threatened administrative action- Courts will not render a decree in advance of administrative action and thereby render such action nugatory. It is not for the court to stop an administrative officer from performing his statutory duty for fear that he will perform it wrongly.

III. Jurisprudence Appeals from the decisions of the Napolcom should be lodged first with the DILG and then with the Civil Service Commission. An appeal is a statutory right, and one who seeks to avail oneself of it must comply with the statute or the rule in effect when that right arose (Miralles v. Go, 349 SCRA 596). As a rule, administrative agencies factual findings that are affirmed by the Court of Appeals are conclusive on the parties and not reviewable by the Supreme Court (Miralles v. Go, 349 SCRA 596). An administrative proceeding is different from a criminal case and may proceed independently thereof (Miralles v. Go, 349 SCRA 596). When an administrative agency renders an opinion or issues a statement of policy, it merely interprets a pre-existing law and the administrative interpretation is at best advisory for it is the courts that finally determine what the law means (Baltazar v. Commission on Elections, 350 SCRA 518).

The quantum of proof necessary for finding of guilty in administrative cases is substantial evidence or such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind may accept as adequate to support a conclusion (351 SCRA 210). The essence of due process is simply an opportunity to be heard, or as applied to administrative proceedings, an opportunity to seek a reconsideration of the action or ruling complained of (Vda. de Dela Cruz v. Abille, 352 SCRA 691). Administrative agencies are not considered courts, they are neither part of the judicial system nor are they deemed judicial tribunals (United Residents of Dominican Hill, Inc v. Commission on the Settlement of Land Problems, 353 SCRA 782). Administrative agencies findings of fact in matters falling under their jurisdiction are generally accorded great respect, if not finality (Amigo Manufacturing, Inc v. Cluett Peabody Co., Inc., 354 SCRA 434). It is an accepted