Supporters of dismissed Mandaue mayor rally at Comelec

MANILA, Philippines — Around 300 supporters of dismissed mayor Jonas Cortes rallied at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Mandaue City in Cebu yesterday to protest the cancellation of the mayor’s certificate of candidacy (COC) for the midterm polls.

The rally followed a Comelec Second Division decision on Wednesday granting the petition to have Cortes’ candidacy canceled due to a “material and false representation” in his COC.

Leo Gerarman of the Urban Poor Association said they held the rally to appeal for a reversal of the decision, citing a document that proves Cortes had answered the petition for cancellation of COC.

Part of the decision of the Comelec Second Division said Cortes failed to file a response to the petition in time.

Mandaue city election officer Anna Fleur Gujilde clarified that they had nothing to do with the decision.

“Our role in Comelec-Mandaue is primarily messengerial. The petitions and the responses are filed in Comelec-Manila, not in local offices,”Gujilde said.

“I heard their complaints and I understand them. Maybe they are rallying here because they do not know the process,” she added, noting that all petitions against a candidate must be filed at the Comelec Central Office in Intramuros and not in local offices.

Guijilde said her office would allow the rally participants to hold similar activities in the coming days, saying “it is their right to express themselves, as long as their assembly remains peaceful.”  — The Freeman