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The opposition-dominated Mandaue City Council said it is aligning itself more with Cebu 6th Dist. Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz in their ongoing political tussle with Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes.
They denied that former Mandaue City mayor Thadeo Ouano had a hand in the “Kabanay Unlimited” presentation they made to local media last Wednesday.
Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said this doesn't mean that their group cut ties with the Ouano camp with whom they ran in the last elections.
Rather, he said, they are looking to Soon-Ruiz as the political leader in their group.
“Considering she is the highest elected official in our group in Mandaue, we look up to her as the group leader. The Ouanos are very occupied with a lot of things like the case at the Sandiganbayan,” he said.
Mandaue City Councilor Victor Biaño reiterated that their criticism of Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes is not being managed or controlled by the Ouanos.
The majority floor leader said “it cannot be denied” that Ruiz has signified her intentions in Mandaue City's mayoralty post in 2010 so whatever happens to the city is her concern.
“If you say that the Ouanos are behind all these, that I would have to deny, wala gyud labot sila si Teddy ani (Teddy has no involvement in this),” Biaño told .
“We may have won under the Ouanos but that does not mean we are beholden to them (Ouano family),” he added.
Fortuna and Biaño both admitted that they had asked help from Ruiz.
As to what kind of help they sought, they did not elaborate.
“We are politically inclined to those who are against Jonas (Cortes) because Jonas does not want us,” Biaño quipped.
Both officials said that even if they asked help from Ruiz, the alleged existence of a “Kabanay Unlimited” within the Mandaue City government was a legitimate issue raised by the opposition councilors.
For her part, Soon-Ruiz reiterated that she has no hand in the Kabanay Unlimited presentation to local media last Wednesday.
In last Wednesday’s press conference, Fortuna and several opposition councilors gave a Power Point presentation that supposedly detailed which Cortes family member controls a particular office or enterprise in the city government.
Fortuna claimed that the Cortes family members form part of a “shadow government” influencing or running the affairs of the Mandaue City government.
Mayor Cortes denied the allegations and said the family members merely advise him on certain matters and help monitor the offices.
However, some family members hold certain positions in the Mandaue City government.
“Wala ko'y apil sa nahitabo sa (I'm not involved in what's happening to the) local government, wala koy gisabong (I'm not provoking a fight) and I trust the judgement of the city council,” Soon-Ruiz said.
She said the “fiscalizing” role is left with the councilors. “I am just a watcher at the sidelines,” Soon-Ruiz added.
Soon-Ruiz issued the statements during the first year anniversary of the Maguikay National High School yesterday where she witnessed the turnover of five computer units bought from the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF).
Soon-Ruiz also said the opposition councilors are just doing their job to ensure a lean, efficient government bureaurcracy that has transparency and accountability as promised by the Cortes administration.
In a separate interview, Mayor Cortes said the political alignments of his opposition critics only showed that the Kabanay Inc. presentation was politically motivated.
“Klaro kaayo nga pagdaot ra sa pangalan ang ilang gibuhat (It's clear that what they did was to ruin my name),” he said.
Cortes also called on the political opposition to stop the politicking and reserve it for the elections.
“Now is the time for doing our jobs,” he said.
