Around 10,000 supporters are seen in this drone shot of the prayer rally held for dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes on Friday night, October 11, 2024. | Mandaue City PIO
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines —Around 10,000 supporters holding candles joined a prayer rally for dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes in front of the Mandaue City Hall on Friday evening, October 11, 2024.
The Team Mandaue slate and allied barangay captains were also present.
One of the community leaders who spoke on stage said that Mandaue City politics was not in a “healthy” state.
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The prayer rally was meant to ask for peace, continuous progress for the city, and “justice” for Cortes.
Different religious leaders, including those from the Muslim community, offered prayers.
During the rally, Administrator Atty. Jamaal James Calipayan spoke in front of supporters who attended the event.
Calipayan updated them on Cortes’ cases, including one of grave misconduct for allegedly appointing an unqualified officer in charge, which resulted in his one-year suspension.
He also mentioned another case of grave misconduct for allowing a batching plant to operate without a proper permit, which led to Cortes’ dismissal.
Calipayan further reported that a recent criminal case had been filed against Cortes, related to the same complaint about the batching plant.
The complaint stemmed from Cortes’ alleged act of allowing the batching plant to operate for years without a permit, despite petitions against it due to health hazard concerns.
Calipayan added that they had already filed a motion for reconsideration for the earlier cases, and for Cortes’ dismissal from service, they had also appealed to the Court of Appeals.
“Kini political persecution. Dili ra simple’ng paggukod sa usa ka tawo pero politikanhon nga pagpersecute sa atoang mayor. Karung adlawa adunay bag-ong kaso nga nigawas, og kini wala na nila gitihik-tihik. Gi-filelan nila og criminal case kay dili lang sila nga i-dismiss atoang mayor kun dili prisohon atoang mayor,” said Calipayan.
He urged those in attendance to continue supporting and offering prayers, as Cortes and the team are also fighting for truth and justice.
“Atoang gipangayo karun ang kamatuuran ug hustisya. Dunggon ni sa atoang ginoo kay naa nato ang kamatuuran. Ingun sila nga ang ngitngit nga bahin sa kagabhion dinha kung duol ang kadlawn, ug kani’ng pinakalisod nga nahiaguman sa atoang mayor karun mao sad ni nga duol ang kahayag sa atoang dakbayan kay atoang ipakita nila nga dili ta mahadlok. Naa nato ang kamatuuran,” Calipayan added.