Joy Ouano, brother join Cortes camp

CEBU, Philippines - The efforts of Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to unify all the barangay captains in the city has finally paid off as Opao barangay Captain Joy Ouano yesterday announced her full to support to Cortes’ re-election bid in the upcoming elections.

Ouano, together with his younger brother, Raphael, who serves as a barangay kagawad in barangay Ouano, joined yesterday’s monthly meeting of barangay captains and announced that she and her brother will be supporting Cortes and his slate in the upcoming elections.

Ouano, in the 2007 elections, supported Cortes who ran against her nephew Jonkie Ouano, the son of her elder brother former Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano.

Thadeo Ouano is running for a provincial seat.

Joy Ouano supported Cortes in 2007 during which she and brother Thadeo were at odds with each other. Their differences have not been resolved until now.

When Cortes won as mayor in 2007, Ouano even started joining the monthly meetings of the barangay captains but she stopped attending after she and barangay Banilad captain Glenn Bercede both claimed having won the presidency of Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) in the city.

To settle the matter, a case was filed in court to determine who the rightful president was.

The case still remains pending in court up to this day.

At yesterday’s meeting, Ouano told the barangay captains she will not support the candidacy of Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz.

Ouano said she and her brother are backing Cortes because they have seen the mayor’s efforts to unite all the residents and barangay leaders.

Ouano also proposed to Bercede that they set aside their differences and to just let the court decide their case. 

Ouano said she and her brother did not consult the patriarch, former Mandaue City Mayor Alfredo “Pedong” Ouano, regarding the decision to support the Cortes camp.

Vice Mayoralty candidate Glen Bercede accepted without hesitation Joy’s support for the group.

“The mayor had always wanted to unite all barangay leaders in the city,” Bercede said.

With Ouano now identified with the Cortes camp, there are already 25 barangay captains in the city that are allied with Cortes. The two barangay captains who are with the opposition are barangay Alang-alang captain Aquilino Cabahug and barangay Umapad captain Zaldy Lumapas, who is vying for a seat in the council under the slate of Ruiz’s “Nagkahiusang Mandauehanon.”

With the new twist of events, Cortes said that he was glad that his efforts to unite all the barangay captains in the city has finally paid off.

“I have been working for unification since sa Liga pa. We are not talking about Joy and Glenn here. We are talking about the interest of the city. I want to deliver more projects to the barangays,” Cortes said.

“They are now offering a broken arrow. Kini nagpasabot nga wa nay panagbangi tali nila ni Joy ug Glenn,” Cortes said.

Cortes also told Ouano that she can still claim for the release of the P3 million allotted for her barangay under the city’s Annual Investment Plan.

Since his assumption of office in 2007, Cortes has allotted P1million in aid to each barangay in the city under the AIP of which barangay Opao failed to claim the money from the AIP starting in 2008 until 2010.   (FREEMAN NEWS)