“Don’t they have anything better to do? Let’s get to work, the elections are over.”
That was the reaction of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to the statement of former Bacolod mayor Evelio Leonardia’s spokesman on the dismissal of the election protest they filed against him.
The COMELEC Second Division in an eight-page order dated September 7 dismissed the election protest of Leonardia against Benitez for being “improperly filed” and “insufficient in form and content”.
“Our lawyers have yet to receive a copy of the alleged decision of the Second Division of the COMELEC. As such, we cannot comment yet on the reported decision being unaware of the reasons allegedly made by the Second Division. Rest assured that our protest complied with all requirements of the COMELEC and the law,” Dr. Chris Sorongon, spokesperson of Leonardia, said.
Sorongon said their camp will exhaust all available legal remedies to ensure justice will be done for the voters of Bacolod City.
Benitez said “I always believed that it was a not a protest to be taken seriously”.
The May elections were peaceful and clean, there were no reported irregularities, he said.
The next elections in 2025 are just around the corner, we might as well focus on important matters for Bacolod, he said.
Benitez won with 171,893 votes in the May 9 polls, while Leonardia had 107,447 votes.*