Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes —Official Facebook page of Jonas Cortes
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has suspended Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes for a year over the “irregular designation” of an officer in charge (OIC) of the City Social Welfare Services (CSWS) in 2022.
Cortes was found guilty of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and will serve the suspension without pay. Vice Mayor Glenn Bercede, an ally of Cortes, is set to assume acting mayor throughout the duration of the suspension.
The Ombudsman, in its ruling dated Aug. 12, said that the appointment of Camilo Basaca as OIC of the CSWS did not follow the legal process.
READ: Ombudsman suspends Cebu City mayor, 7 others
“In the instant case, the designation of Basaca as officer in charge of CSWS was highly irregular and violated pertinent civil service rules and regulations and other applicable laws,” it said.
The Ombudsman, however, said that the acts of Cortes did not involve any forms of corruption, hence a penalty of suspension for one year was enough.
“The Office notes that there was neither allegation nor was it found that the irregular designation of Basaca was attended with elements of corruption,” it said.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by three people against Cortes in the Ombudsman over the appointment of Basaca.
The complainants claimed that the designation of Basaca violated Section 483 of Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code, which enumerates the qualifications of the social welfare development officer (SWDO).
According to the complainants, Cortes deliberately refused to appoint a qualified SWDO because he did not open the position to applicants even if this had been vacant for almost a year.
They also insisted that Basaca did not possess the required eligibility and qualifications for the position of SWDO as he was not a licensed social worker and had not acquired experience in the practice of social work for at least five years as mandated by the law.
Appeal
Lawyer Jamaal James Calipayan, Mandaue City administrator, received the suspension order on Wednesday since Cortes was in Manila.
Calipayan, in a press conference, said the mayor’s camp would appeal the Ombudsman decision.
He said Cortes’ suspension should not take effect immediately, saying Cortes should be allowed to continue serving the public until the suspension order is enforced.
“In the decision, there is no issue of corruption. No public funds were mishandled. The mayor’s act of designating Basaca has helped many,” said Calipayan.
He said they were surprised about the complaint because they had no background of the complainants.
Basaca’s contract as acting head of CSWS in Mandaue ended last month.