Cortes, Ruiz accuse each other of taking down posters

CEBU, Philippines - Sixth district representative and mayoral aspirant Nerissa Soon-Ruiz of the Nacionalista Party yesterday said her campaign posters are being removed and replaced by posters belonging to her opponents. But congressional aspirant Ariston “Baludong” Cortes of the Liberal Party immediately refuted Ruiz’s allegation saying it was her group that was the perpetrator.

Soon alleged over radio dyAB that some of her campaign posters are being removed.

Cortes accuses Ruiz of concentrating on his and his younger brother’s (Jonas) posters. Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and Ruiz are both seeking the mayoralty in Mandaue.

The older Cortes said this practice is prevalent along M.C Briones Street and the highway targeting their propaganda materials posted on private fences and structures.

“Binastos gyud ning ilang gihimo, gani ang akong mga supporters kadaghan na makasakop, (It’s ill-mannered. In fact, my supporters had caught them red handed),” Cortes said.

On the other hand, Mayor Cortes said he is also a victim of Ruiz’s practice but he had never complained.

“I will never stoop down to her level, especially her below-the-belt comments. I will raise politics in Mandaue to a higher level,” Mayor Cortes said.

The mayor asked Ruiz to abide by the Comelec rules regarding posters, adding that she should not discriminately paste her propaganda materials anywhere.

However, Sally Malig-on, Ruiz’s chief-of-staff, came to her defense saying that they have proof to show for their allegations against the Corteses.

Malig-on said they have proof that their campaign materials in barangay Paknaan and Tingub were torn and replaced with Cortes posters by supporters.

“We have physical evidences to prove and we even took pictures of these, ang mga job order employees man gani maoy ilang gipanggamit,” Malig-on said.

The mayor said yesterday that Ruiz is free to use the City Hall plaza and other common poster areas identified by the Comelec and denied having restricted Ruiz to the public plaza.

Ibabao-Estancia Barangay Captain Carmelino del Mar Jr. who has declared his barangay as illegal poster-free barangay admitted he has confiscated several posters of Ruiz because these are placed in public places not designated by Comelec as common poster areas. This is equally applicable to the posters of Mayor Cortes, he said.

“All posters placed on public posts, abandoned fences, and private houses without permission from owners are deemed illegal and we will take these out,” del Mar said.

He said Ruiz never attempted to place materials in the barangay hall, adding that if she had done so, he wouldn’t stop her. He added there is much room in Bagsakan Center, another designated common poster area. (FREEMAN NEWS)