Thousands rally behind Cortes

CEBU, Philippines — Around 10,000 supporters joined a prayer rally Friday evening for mayoralty candidate Jonas Cortes in front of the Mandaue City Hall.

The prayer rally, attended by the Team Mandaue slate, was meant for the city’s “continued peace and progress” as well as justice for the embattled former mayor, who was dismissed and perpetually disqualified to run for public office, as ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman.

But for Cortes, the fight to run for mayor in the next election is far from over as he is seeking all legal remedies to reverse such ruling.

As such, his supporters have come together to show their support for the former mayor.

During the rally, City Administrator Jamaal James Calipayan informed the mayor’s supporters about the several cases filed against Cortes, the latest being the criminal case the Ombudsman recommended for filing, still in relation to the same complaint about the batching plant that was allegedly allowed by the mayor without the needed mayor’s permit to operate, which resulted to the administrative penalties imposed by the Ombudsman.

“Kini political persecution. Dili ra simpleng paggukod sa usa ka tawo pero politikanhon nga pag-persecute sa atoang mayor,” Calipayan said.

Prior to the dismissal from service penalty after the anti-graft office found him guilty of grave misconduct over the said batching plant, the Ombudsman also penalized Cortes with for a one-year suspension on August 21.

In a statement, Calipayan said that the latest criminal case against Cortes is again another expected move of his political opponents.

“We know this to be a series actions culminating in this criminal case that they are filing against the Mayor. With this, it is a clear act of political persecution. They do not only want to eliminate Mayor Jonas as a rival of the 2025 elections, but to threaten his freedom,” Calipayan said.

Calipayan said Cortes will seek all available remedies and fight the persecution till the end.

“We assure the Mandauehanons that we will continue to surge against this until justice will prevail,” he said.

The prayer rally ended with a community singing of “Hawak Kamay” of Yeng Constantino with their candles lighted on.

Prior to this, several of the mayor’s supporter speak about Cortes good deeds and praised him for being a good person. — (FREEMAN)