SC flags ex-Boac town mayor over defective pleadings

SC flags ex-Boac town mayor over defective pleadings | Daily Tribune

The Supreme Court revealed on Monday that it has issued a show cause order against former Boac town Mayor Pedrito M. Nepomuceno for repeatedly filing defective pleadings as it is duty-bound to enforce applicable rules to avoid further congestion of clogged court dockets.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, the SC en banc denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Nepomuceno and ordered him to show cause within a non-extendible period of 10 days from notice why he should not be cited in contempt for his repeated filing of defective petitions before the court involving the same subject matter.

To recall, the SC dismissed the former Boac mayor’s petition for the issuance of a writ of kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus on 5 December 2023.

Nepomuceno claimed that the people of Boac suffered floods due to the Boac River Reclamation Project, which, according to him, was not subjected to the Environmental Impact Analysis of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

However, the 2023 petition was found non-compliant with the requirements under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases.

The SC also said that it has found out that Nepomuceno failed to submit proper verification; failed to pay the required docket and legal fees; failed to show proof of service on the adverse parties; failed to file the required number of plain copies of the petition; and failed to submit an electronic copy of the petition through electronic mail within 24 hours from the filing of the hard copy.

Also, Nepomuceno’s claims in the 2023 Petition were not supported by any evidence and the SC thus dismissed the 2023 Petition, prompting Nepomuceno to file the present motion for reconsideration.

The court, however, found that the motion for reconsideration simply restated the contents of the 2023 Petition and ignored the ruling of the Court on the procedural flaws identified and merely requested for the Court’s understanding and leniency instead of curing the 2023 Petition’s procedural defects.

The SC also stressed that the present motion was already the fourth time that Nepomuceno filed a defective pleading before the Court.

Prior to the 2023 Petition, Nepomuceno had filed a petition in 2021 for a writ of kalikasan and writ of continuing mandamus involving the same Boac River Reclamation Project.

The 2021 Petition was dismissed by the Court for being insufficient in form and substance, with defects similar to those identified by the Court in the 2023 Petition and it was found that Nepomuceno admitted in the 2021 Petition that he had previously filed before the Court a petition for the issuance of a writ of kalikasan where he notably stated that no river is being reclaimed.