The Ombudsman has found suspended Mandaue City mayor Jonas Cortes guilty of grave misconduct.

Cortes is meted the penalty of “dismissal from the service.”

The decision on September 26, 2024 is based on a complaint filed on October 17, 2022 by Mandaue City residents Ines Corbo Necesario and Julia Narte on Cortes' act of allowing the continuous operation of SUPREA Philippines Development Corporation, a batching plant of concrete mix cement located at Sitio San Jose 1, Circumferential Road, Barangay Labogon, Mandaue City in 2020 to 2022 despite the lack of the required business permit, sanitary permit, and environment clearance.

Its operation posed alleged health risks and disturbances to those who live close to the plant’s perimeter, but Cortes (the respondent) refused to issue a cease-and-desist order against SUPREA and allowed said batching plant to continue operating its business.

“…the regulation and monitoring of the operation of SUPREA involved the very functions that respondent ought to discharge by virtue of his office. He has a duty to act, but he deliberately chose not to act,” the decision reads.

“Such misconduct is clearly demonstrated when respondent (Cortes) allowed its operation in 2020 until 2022 without business permit and the required sanitary permit and environmental clearance, and refused to immediately act on the recommendations of the MCENRO (Mandaue City Environment and Natural Resources Office) as early as 2020,” the ruling added.

In a statement posted on his official social media page, Cortes said that the decision “comes as no surprise,” and that he will “exhaust every legal remedy to fight this battle.”

“Nahibaw man gyud ta nga ang atong kontra gigamit nila ang ilang koneksyon ug gahum at their disposal. But let me assure you, just as we faced challenges before, we will not back down. We will exhaust every legal remedy to fight this battle - because this is not just about me. It is about the trust you have placed in me, and I will defend that trust with all that I have,” Cortes said addressing his constituents.