Jonas Cortes seeks TRO vs Comelec order on cancellation of COC

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes. | File photo

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Dismissed Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes is set to visit the Supreme Court when work resumes on Thursday, January 2, to appeal for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that will prevent the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from implementing the cancellation of Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the May 2025 midterm elections.

A statement released by his Public Relations Team said that Cortes will be at the SC at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

“He appeals to the judiciary for fairness and impartiality, expressing hope that justice will prevail amidst these politically charged times,” read part of the statement.

READ: Jonas Cortes to appeal disqualification case to SC

Cortes filed his COC for Mandaue City Mayor in the midterm elections.  He will be seeking election against Provincial Board Members Thadeo “Jonkie” Ouano, the younger brother of Mandaue City Lone District Rep. Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon and brother-in-law of House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

The printing of ballots for the midterm elections starts on January 6.

Grave misconduct

In October, the Office of the Ombudsman had ordered Cortes’ dismissal from service after he was found guilty of grave misconduct.

READ: Mandaue Mayor Jonas Cortes dismissed from office – Ombudsman

The complaint was anchored on the alleged act of Cortes for allowing the continuous operation from 2020 to 2022 of SUPREA Phils. Development Corp, a batching plant of concrete mix cement located in Sitio San Jose 1, Circumferential Road in Brgy. Labogon.

Cortes had appealed his case at the SC.

Material and false representation

In a decision promulgated on December 18, 2024, the Comelec Second Division ordered for the cancellation of the former mayor’s COC for “material and false representation.”

The decision was based on a petition filed by lawyer Ervin Estandarte, who argued that Cortes committed a serious act of misrepresentation by indicating on his COC that he was “eligible for the office I seek to be elected to.”

Cortes and his supporters had questioned the timing of the filing of charges against him as they also made an appeal for his opponents to already cease from making political maneuvers and instead allow the conduct of a fair and honest election here.

Ouano-Dizon had repeatedly denied any involvement in the filing of charges against Cortes.