Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes follows Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia in PDP exit

CEBU, Philippines – Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes announced his resignation from the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) on Wednesday, May 29, just a day after Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia also tendered her resignation from the party.

“This decision stems from my own desire to continue the unity forged under Governor Gwen Garcia and maintain Mandaue under the banner of One Cebu,” the mayor’s letter addressed to Palawan 2nd District Representative Jose Alvarez read.

One Cebu is the ruling party of the province, with Garcia herself as party chair. During the 2022 elections, One Cebu backed the UniTeam Festival Rally held in Cebu City.

Cortes was present at the campaign rally, together with Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan, and Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas, among other local politicians.

The Garcia-led party endorsed former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s bid for president on April 12.

Cebu is the most vote-rich province with more than 3.2 million registered voters. Cebu brought the most votes for then-presidential candidate Marcos and then-vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte at more than a million each. 

Mandaue City is a part of the tri-cities that include Lapu-Lapu City and Cebu City, which make up the major urban bloc of the metropolitan area of the province. 

The city boasted a voter population of 234,581 in the 2022 elections. Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City had a voter population of 733,044 and 245,395 respectively.

For Unity

Garcia’s exit stemmed from the complaint filed by Rama, PDP’s vice president for the Visayas, before the Office of the President. 

Rama accused the governor of abusing her authority and grave misconduct. He urged Marcos to suspend Garcia following their clash over the civil works for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT).

Prior to this, Rama and Garcia were already disagreeing with each other over the conduct of the Sinulog festival at the SRP in Cebu City in January 2023.

Meanwhile, Cortes said in his resignation letter that his priority as mayor was to align with initiatives that promote and serve “the community’s best interests.”

In February, Cortes and Chan were nowhere to be found during the Cebu Duterte Prayer Rally held at the SRP—only Rama was present during the event.

– Rappler.com