Cortes files protest with Comelec

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CEBU CITY — Former Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortes has lodged a formal complaint before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila, contesting the victory of Thadeo Jovito "Jonkie" Ouano in the May 12 mayoral race. Cortes cited widespread fraud and machine-related irregularities in his complaint.

Cortes, who ran under the One Cebu political party, filed the protest on May 23, well within the 10-day period set by Comelec Resolution 8804.

He accused Ouano's camp of benefiting from various forms of electoral fraud and technical anomalies that allegedly occurred across all 271 clustered precincts in Mandaue City.

Ouano was proclaimed on May 13 with 101,549 votes, surpassing Cortes' 94,448 votes by a margin of 7,101.

However, Cortes' legal team claimed that inconsistencies involving approximately 20,195 votes could potentially overturn the result.

In his 189-page petition, Cortes detailed alleged instances of both intrinsic and extrinsic fraud.

He said several voters observed discrepancies between the votes they cast and those reflected on their voter-verified paper audit trails, especially in the mayoralty race.

His camp also cited a large number of undervotes and overvotes despite voters insisting they shaded their ballots properly.

The protest also raised concerns over malfunctioning automated counting machines, which reportedly stalled or broke down on election day.

These issues caused long delays and, in some cases, discouraged voters from casting their ballots.

Ballot rejections due to folds or smudges further heightened disenfranchisement concerns. Cortes questioned irregularities in priority polling places as well, where electoral support staff, instead of the electoral board, allegedly fed ballots into machines and failed to properly show receipts to voters.

To support his claims, Cortes submitted affidavits from at least 40 witnesses, including himself, outgoing city administrator Jamaal James Calipayan, lawyer Benjamin Cabrido Jr. and poll watchers from parties such as the Liberal Party, Aksyon Demokratiko and Ako Bisaya.

He called on the Comelec to secure all election records and equipment, conduct a technical audit and manual recount, and declare him the rightful winner if proven he received the highest number of valid votes.

He also asked the commission to nullify Ouano's proclamation due to fraud.

In a Facebook post, Cortes emphasized that his protest aimed to uphold electoral transparency and integrity, not to pursue personal rivalry.

He said that if the recount confirmed a clean and honest election, he would accept the outcome.

Earlier, in an interview with The Manila Times, Ouano already responded by acknowledging Cortes' right to protest but described it as contradictory to his opponent's earlier call for unity.

He said he would leave the matter to his legal team while focusing on transitioning into office and implementing priority programs, such as constructing a new Mandaue City College building and a city hospital.

Calipayan, representing the Cortes camp, said they were not trying to cause disruption but were merely seeking answers through a recount.

He argued that the machine glitches and vote count irregularities deserved attention and noted that their team was prepared to elevate the matter to the Supreme Court after the city board of canvassers earlier dismissed their complaint.

Earlier this week, former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama also lodged a formal complaint before the Comelec central office, questioning the results of the elections where he placed third. Councilor Nestor Archival got the most votes, while outgoing Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia placed second.