Mandaue mayor’s race: Another ‘Jonas’ Cortes files COC

Mayor Jonas Cortes camp plans to file a petition to declare Joey Cortes’ a nuisance candidate

Joey Cortes is one of the Mandaue candidates, who is running for mayor.

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Another “Jonas” Cortes has filed her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for mayor in Mandaue City and she filed at the last minute of the filing of COCs on October 8.

During her interview after her filing, Cortes said that she was running for mayor because she observed that usually only men would run for Mayor. 

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“Women empowerment gyud ni…Nakalansar pod ko niadtong mga niaging tuig. Nakita nako nga puro ra gyud mga lalaki ang nagdumala sa Mandaue. Mas nindot man siguro nga naa say babaye nga Mayor sa Mandaue,” said Cortes.

(This is really women empowerment…I also ran in the past years. I saw that those who are running Mandaue are mostly men. It would be better if there would also be a woman mayor of Mandaue.)

Joey Cortes filing a ploy — city administrator

On Friday morning, City Administrator Lawyer Jamaal James Calipayan said her filing was a ploy to confuse the voters because they had almost the same name of dismissed Mayor Jonas Cortes who was also running for Mayor. 

“The effect would be the voters will be confused especially in an election nga dili nimo isuwat kundili imo i-shade, automated nga election because magtapad ni ang mga pangan, considering nga pareha sila og pangan. Then mag-una pa gale iyang pangan kang Mayor kay Joey kato nga name,” said Calipayan.

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(The effect would be the voters will be confused especially in an elections that you wold not write one’s name but you have to shade it, this is an automated election because their names would be near each other, considering they have almost the same name. Then her name would even be first (on the ballot) than the mayor’s name because her first name is Joey.)

Nuisance candidate petition

Calipayan said that Cortes’ legal team were preparing to file a petition to declare Joey Cortes as a nuisance candidate and had already requested for certified true copies from the Commission on Elections.

“Anybody has the right to run. I think the question would be, unsay intention nimo sa pagdagan? Because if imo’ng intention sa pagdagan para maglibog sa mga botante, gisugo ka, or gibaryan ka. That is an insult of our electoral system,” he said.

(Anybody has the right to run. I think the question would be, what is your intention in running? Because if your intention in running is for the voters to get confused, then you were asked to do it or you had been paid to do it. That is an insult of our electoral system.)

Section 69 of the Omnibus Election Code defines a nuisance candidate as one who files a certificate of candidacy that puts the election process in mockery or disrepute; or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names; or in other circumstances which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office and to prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate.

If the aspirant is tagged as nuisance, it is paramount to disqualification.

Comelec-Mandaue’s role

In a previous interview with Lawyer Annafleur Gujilde, Comelec-Mandaue election officer, said the Comelec’s role was only ministerial.

Gujilde said that at their level they would just receive the COCs that would be filed. 

They will only check on the the completeness of the COC form, the attachment of the Certification of Nomination and Acceptance, and notarization among others.

On the eligibility of aspirants, Gujilde said that their office would not get involved in disqualification as they would not go beyond the COC form.

She said that the COCs were forwarded to Comelec’s law department and they would be the ones to evaluate the documents. 

Other interested parties, such as registered voters or political parties, might also file petitions if they would wish to challenge the candidacies, she said.

She’s qualified to run

When interviewed about the possibility of her COC being denied, Joey “Jonas” Cortes said she was very qualified to run.

“Ngano’ng manuisance man ko? Nga credible man ko. PolSci graduate ko. Law student ko. Master in Public Administration. Nakalansar ko atong mga niaging election unya mamgampanya ko,” said Joey Cortes.

(Why would I be a nuisance candidate? Because I am credible. I am a PolSci graduate. I am a Law student. I am a Master in Public Administration. I run in previous elections and then I have also campaigned.)

“Maningkamot ko nga mailhan gyud ta bisan pa lang sa kasamok ba kay murag init (politika sa Mandaue). Tan-aw nako. Mao na’ng sa last minute nidecide gyud ko. Mas maayo naay women empowerment, first time,” said she said.

(I work hard to be recognized even amid the chaos now because it seems that the way I see it the situation is hot (politics in Mandaue). That is why I really decided to do it in the last minute. It is really better that there is women empowerment.)

Calipayan said last 2007, Joey Cortes has also filed a COC for Mayor. He said that Jonas Cortes also filed for a petition and was granted.

Affiliated with Congressman Lolypop

Calipayan alleged that Joey Cortes was affiliated with Congresswoman Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon and her family.

“We also try to look at the background. Affiliated gyud siya sa pikas kampo. Naa man siyay mga pictures nga nagkuyog-kuyog sila. Naa silay mga pictures with Cong. Lolypop, Brgy. Captain Jojo Dizon, with the family and with the office sa sixth district. We even heard rumors nga empleyado siya sa pikas when we asked around,” said Calipayan.

(We also try to look at the background. She is affiliated with the other camp. There are pictures that they were together. She has pictures of Cong. Lolypop, Brgy. Captain Jojo Dizon, with the family and with the office of the sixth district. We even heard rumors that she is even an employee of the other camp when we asked around.)

CDN Digital tried to reach out to Ouano-Dizon’s camp but they had yet to release a statement as of this writing.