A Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge has junked cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp.鈥檚 request for a preliminary injunction against Bureau of Customs (BOC) raids on its warehouses, citing lack of jurisdiction.
In a 13-page decision released on Thursday, Judge Noli Diaz of Manila RTC Branch 39 said that based on the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, anyone seeking court intervention should first exhaust all administrative processes.
In Mighty鈥檚 case, it should have first gone to the Department of Finance, which oversees the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, when it alleged that the two agencies violated its rights when they raided its warehouses in General Santos City in the south and in San Simon in Pampanga province.
Diaz said that 鈥渞elief must first be obtained in administrative proceedings before a remedy is supplied by the courts even if the matter may well be within their proper jurisdiction.鈥�
The Manila RTC could only issue writs of preliminary injunction within the territorial limits of the National Capital Region; therefore it could not act on the firm鈥檚 complaint because it happened outside of its jurisdiction, Diaz said.
Mighty Corp., the country鈥檚 second largest cigarette maker, questioned before the court the 鈥渕ission orders鈥� issued by Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon last month that authorized an inspection of the company鈥檚 warehouses in Pampanga and General Santos, supposedly based on the complaint of its rival PMFTC Inc. It said it suffered 鈥済rave and irreparable injury鈥� as the raid did not lead to the recovery of fake products as alleged.
In defense of the BOC, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said Mighty 鈥渇ailed to show that it will suffer any grave and irreparable injury if any injunctive relief is not issued.鈥�
鈥淓ven assuming that plaintiff will suffer injury and/or damage, it is not irreparable because it is pecuniary and can be compensated,鈥� the OSG said.
Earlier, Judge Tita Bughao Alisuag of the Manila RTC Branch 1 inhibited herself from the Mighty case after Faeldon lodged a complaint in the Supreme Court against her for committing 鈥済ross and deplorable鈥� conduct when she issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting BOC personnel from raiding the storage facilities of the Bulacan-based cigarette manufacturer.