Rally held as dismissed Mandaue mayor appeals COC cancellation

Dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes —Official Facebook page of Jonas Cortes

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Supporters of dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes participated in an indignation rally to express their sentiments against a recent ruling of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify the local chief executive from seeking reelection due to allegations of “material misrepresentation.”

The protesters gathered in front of the former Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) at around 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 23.

Cortes was present during the rally, accompanied by his family and vowed to “fight until the end.“

He maintained that he did not lie in his Certificate of Candidacy (COC).

READ: Comelec stops Mandaue mayor’s bid for reelection

Cortes said his lawyers had already filed an appeal regarding the cancellation of his COC before the Comelec in Manila.

He said he will bring the case up to the Supreme Court if the poll body does not rule in his favor.

Cortes urged his political opponents not to use their connections with high-ranking national officials to prevent him from running in next year’s elections.

“I am not afraid of Jonkie Ouano! I am not afraid of Lolipop Ouano! And above all, I am not afraid of (House Speaker) Martin Romualdez,” he said during the rally.

Jonkie is Cortes’ lone opponent in the race for Mandaue City mayor in next year’s elections.

Lolipop, on the other hand, is seeking reelection as congresswoman of Mandaue City’s lone district.

In its ruling dated Dec. 18, the poll body’s second division said Cortes wrote “N/A” in response to questions on his COC about pending cases, docket numbers, and the status of any legal actions against him despite receiving a dismissal order from the Office of the Ombudsman on October 3, just one day before filing his COC.

According to the poll body, section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code requires candidates to accurately state their eligibility for the office they are seeking.

Section 78 of the same law allows the cancellation of a COC if any material representation is proven false.

The Comelec said that the deliberate intent to mislead and the falsity of Cortes’s declarations warranted the cancellation of his COC.

The decision stemmed from a petition filed by Cebu-based lawyer Ervin Estandarte who accused Cortes of deliberately misrepresenting his eligibility for the mayoral post.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier found Cortes liable for grave misconduct when he allowed a cement batching plant to operate without necessary business and environmental permits.

The penalty carries a perpetual disqualification from public service.

Cortes is also serving a one year suspension without pay since August 2024 following another decision of the anti-graft office that found him liable for the “irregular designation” of an officer-in-charge of the City Social Welfare Services (CSWS) in 2022.