Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Rep. Greg Gasataya denied on Thursday, April 27, that there is a rift in their relationship.
The rumors of a rift surfaced amid speculation on which candidates each of them will support for the October barangay polls.
Benitez said the October polls are a long way off and the rift claim is just the work “sang mga Marites (those rumormongers)”.
Benitez said he has always had a harmonious relationship with Gasataya.
In fact almost every day they talk or exchange text messages on the needs of the city, Benitez said.
Gasataya, who was with the mayor at the signing of the P4.4 billion loan agreement between Bacolod and the Development Bank of the Philippines, also denied any rift.*