The political war between outgoing Mayor Evelio Leonardia and mayor-elect Alfredo Benitez is far from over. This after Leonardia filed for an election protest and sought for the declaration of failure of election.
In a press conference at Planta Hotel on May 24, Dr. Chris Sorongon, spokesperson of the mayor, confirmed that an election protest was filed before the Commission on Election central office last May 20.
In his complaint, Leonardia sought for a special polls in the city due to alleged massive vote-buying and fake voters being allowed that resulted to the “mysterious and unbelievable” outcome of the May 9 elections.
Sorongon explained that the move of Leonardia was in response to the people’s clamor. “The people of Bacolod want to know the truth. For them, the results were unbelievable,” he added.
According to lawyer Marcus Vaflor, his client believes that massive and rampant vote buying affected the results in all of the 61 barangays and 450 clustered precincts on the weekend leading to the elections and during May 9 voting.
But despite the protest, Benitez will still remain as the proclaimed winning candidate and will assume his office by noon of June 30.
The mayor-elect won the May 9 election with 171,893 votes defeating Leonardia who only obtained 107,447 votes.
