Suspended Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes./ File Photo
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Suspended Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes will run in the mayoral race for the 2025 midterm elections, with acting Mayor Glenn Bercede as his vice mayor.
Cortes said that the complete lineup of candidates for councilors and the congressional seat is still being finalized.
However, he noted that it would consist of incumbent allied city councilors, namely Marie Imamaline Cortes-Zafra, Jimmy Lumapas, Jennifer Del Mar, Jun Arcilla, Editha Flores Cabahug, Oscar Del Castillo, and Dante Borbajo.
Joining their lineup are former Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna, Ernie Manatad, Marco Sanchez, and Junjie Espina.
Cortes also said that incumbent Provincial Board Member Glenn Soco and outgoing city councilor Malcolm Sanchez will be part of their team as board members.
Cortes made this announcement during the “Storya Ta! A Move to Good Governance and Transparency” forum with the media on Thursday, Sept. 19, where he was a special guest.
“Klaruhon ta ni ha, aduna manggud ilang gipalakaw nga dili na daw ko kadagan (election). I can still run unya og manguta sila og modagan gihapon ko (as mayor) with Glenn Bercede,” said Cortes.
“We’ve been together since we were councilors, unya nidagan og congress unya ako board member then back to mayor, then ako vice mayor gihapon. Wala na gud nay mokamang nako, ug naay mokamang, didto diretso sa Mayor kay kahibaw man sila sa akoang loyalty. I always depend gyud sa kung unsa ang project sa Mayor as kaabag nga dili mobabag,” said Bercede in response to a question about whether he had been approached to join another group.
Provincial Board Member Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano, brother of Mandaue City Lone District Representative Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon, is also reported to run for mayor in next year’s election.
Awaiting Ombudsman’s Notice
Meanwhile, City Administrator Atty. Jamaal James Calipayan said that the camp of Mayor Jonas Cortes had already filed a Motion for Reconsideration (MR) last August 27 to the Office of the Ombudsman and is awaiting a notice from them.
Calipayan explained that, in the process, the complainants would be asked to respond to the MR first, and then the Ombudsman would decide whether to request another reply from the complainants.
“And then they will decide. Supposedly under the rules within five days, from the time it was submitted for decision. Modecide na gyud unta sila because dinalian mangyud ni. Mao nay status— we have not received any response or notice regarding our MR,” said Calipayan.
The Ombudsman suspended Cortes for one year without pay for grave misconduct, alleging that he appointed an unqualified officer-in-charge of the City Social Welfare Services Office (CSWSO) in 2022, which was deemed unlawful.