CEBU CITY – For allegedly lying in his Certificate of Candidacy (COC), dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas  is facing a petition for disqualification before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

CORTES (center). (FB)

Two petitioners, both residents of Barangay Labogon, Mandaue, accused Cortes of committing “material misrepresentation” when he placed in his COC that he is eligible for the office that he seeks to be elected to despite the presence of an Ombudsman order dismissing him from service that imposed the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from service.

In their petition to cancel the COC of Cortes, Ines Corbo Necessario and Julita Oporto Narte asked the Comelec to “deny due course” the COC of Cortes, delete him from the certified list of candidates, and exclude him from the official ballots to be used in the May 2025 elections. 

“In claiming that he is eligible for the office that he seeks to be elected to, respondent Cortes committed material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy,” they said in the petition that was received by the Office of the Clerk of the Commission on Oct. 28.

The petitioners cited Administrative Order No. 17, Series of 2003, which amended Rule III of the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman which states that: “An appeal shall not stop a decision from being executory…A decision of the Office of the Ombudsman in administrative cases shall be executed as a matter of course.”

“Thus, notwithstanding an appeal, the decision…is immediately executory. Further, it has long been settled that a dismissal order from the Office of the Ombudsman is executory,” they said.

Last September 26, the Office of the Ombudsman issued an order dismissing Cortes for grave misconduct for supposedly allowing a batching plant to operate without permits.

“To date, the said decision has yet to be reversed or set aside. More importantly, to date, no restraining order has been issued to hold in abeyance the implementation thereof and application of the accessory penalties,” cited Necessario and Narte in their petition.

“When respondent Cortes stated in his COC that he is eligible for the office that he seeks to be elected to, he committed material misrepresentation,” they added.

Based on the Ombudsman dismissal order, the Comelec has ordered the disqualification of Cortes in next year’s election.

Cortes filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging a Comelec resolution canceling his candidacy. The High Court granted Cortes’ petition and issued a Temporary Restraining Order against the Comelec resolution.