Sacked Mandaue mayor appeals case

CEBU CITY — Dismissed Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortes will appeal to the Court of Appeals after the Ombudsman rejected his request for reconsideration of the case that initially led to him being suspended without pay for a year.

The case arose from the appointment of Camilo Basaca as the officer in charge (OIC) of the City Social Welfare Services in 2022; this was an appointment that the Ombudsman considered to be in breach of civil service rules.

Expressing that he was not satisfied with the Ombudsman’s decision, Cortes emphasized the importance of “permanence” in such decisions. He cited a similar case involving former mayor Luigi Quisumbing, in which the Ombudsman rejected accusations of an improper OIC appointment.

Cortes questioned the Ombudsman’s willingness to reconsider previous decisions in his case, citing inconsistency in its decisions.

In August, the Ombudsman, at that time II. He had suspended her for gross misconduct for appointing Basaca, who held a concurrent position as an Executive Assistant, in violation of rules requiring permanent appointments for career service positions.

Although Basaca later obtained a permanent post as Community Affairs Officer 4 in January 2023, the Ombudsman noted that the Cortes’ first action was in the 2017 Omnibus Rules IV on Appointments and Human Resources Actions. He alleged that he violated Section 13(c) of the Rule.

Cortes argued that the Ombudsman denied him due process by not providing a copy of the complainants’ position paper. He also argued that the Public Service Commission, not the Ombudsman, should be handling the matter, given that the matter relates to staff appointments.

However, the Ombudsman upheld jurisdiction, stressing that even temporary appointments must comply with civil service regulations. The court cited the Cortes’ “blatant disregard” for established procedures as the reason for its decision.

In a separate case, the Ombudsman suspended Cortes and permanently disqualified him from public service, citing his failure to regulate a blending plant that operated from 2020 to 2022 in Mandaue City without the necessary permits.

Cortes denied the allegations and said they were politically motivated attempts to hinder his re-election campaign. Following his appeal, the Supreme Court issued an interim restraining order in October, blocking the Election Commission’s disqualification order against him.