ILUSANG MAGBUBUKID NG PILIPINAS (KMP), ET AL., PETITIONERS, VS.
AURORA PACIFIC ECONOMIC ZONE AND FREEPORT AUTHORITY,
REPRESENTED BY ITS BOARD COMPOSED OF: ROBERTO K. MATHAY,
PRESIDENT & CEO, ET AL., RESPONDENTS.
[G.R. No. 208282]
PINAG-ISANG LAKAS NG MGA SAMAHAN SA CASIGURAN, AURORA
(PIGLACASA), REPRESENTED BY ITS VICE PRESIDENT EDWIN C.
GARCIA, ET AL., PETITIONERS, VS. AURORA PACIFIC ECONOMIC ZONE
AND FREEPORT AUTHORITY (APECO), SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
REPRESENTED BY SENATE PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DRILON, AND HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES, REPRESENTED BY SPEAKER FELICIANO
BELMONTE, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
LEONEN, J.:
This Court is not a trier of facts. Whether in its original or appellate jurisdiction, this Court is not equipped to receive
and weigh evidence in the first instance. When litigants bypass the hierarchy of courts, the facts they claim before this
Court are incomplete and disputed.
Bypassing the judicial hierarchy requires more than just raising issues of transcendental importance. Without first
resolving the factual disputes, it will remain unclear if there was a direct injury, or if there was factual concreteness
and adversariness to enable this Court to determine the parties' rights and obligations. Transcendental importance is
no excuse for not meeting the demands of justiciability.
Before this Court are two consolidated Petitions for Certiorari and Prohibition [1] with an application for temporary
restraining order. Both Petitions[2] assail as unconstitutional Republic Act No. 9490,[3] as amended by Republic Act
No. 10083,[4] which established the Aurora Special Economic Zone and Freeport, a special economic zone and
freeport in Aurora.
