Mandaue Mayor Jonas Cortes to SC: Stop Comelec from canceling COC
Dismissed Mayor Cortes files petition at Supreme Court, saying Ombudsman ruling not final yet
Dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes./ File Photo
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes has filed a petition at the Supreme Court at past 11 a.m on Wednesday, October 9, to prevent the Commission on Elections from canceling his Certificate of Candidacy (COC).
The petition is for certiorari, prohibition, and injunction with application for issuance of Temporary Restraining Order and/or writ of preliminary injunction.
Cortes also requested an urgent motion for the conduct of a special raffle.
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Lawyer Jamaal James Calipayan, the city administrator, said that the grounds of Mayor Jonas Cortes was that the Ombudsman’s decision was not yet final.
“Gibalik-balik gyud ni sa Supreme Court nga the people’s choice in the elections is of paramount importance. So, we are also invoking that kanang principle,” said Calipayan.
(The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the people’s choice in the elections is of paramount importance. So, we are also invoking that principle.)
In the petition, Cortes names Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia and other commissioners as respondents.
This is regarding the Comelec Resolution No. 11044-A, the power to administratively cancel a COC of candidates dismissed by an executory order of the Ombudsman with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification.
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To prevent the Comelec from canceling Cortes’s COC and prohibiting him from running for reelection, he needs to secure a TRO from the Supreme Court.
Cortes on Tuesday questioned Comelec resolution, saying that it violates the 1987 constitution, which the due process is enshrined in it.
Cortes said that Comelec resolution is unfair and deprive the candidates and voters of the right to choose who they want to lead the government.
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