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PROTEST. Dr. Chris Sorongon (right), who announced that Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia has filed an election protest before the Comelec, was joined by lawyers Marcus Vaflor (left) and Jireh Alimon at a press conference at Planta Hotel in Bacolod City Tuesday, May 24.*Defeated Mayor Evelio Leonardia is asking the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct a manual recount of votes in all 450 clustered precincts of Bacolod City and to declare a "failure of elections".The mayor in his complaint filed before the Comelec central office in Manila on Friday, May 20, and docketed as Election Protest Case No. 008-2022, also asked for the conduct of a special election for the position of mayor.Leonardia’s complaint cited alleged massive vote-buying and fake voters allowed to ca...

Dr. Ernell Tumimbang met with the health officers of the 31 towns and cities of Negros Occidental on Tuesday, May 24, to discuss their COVID-19 vaccination targets and drive against dengue.*The Negros Occidental provincial government aims to vaccinate 666,363 residents against COVID-19 in June to hit 100 percent of its target population, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said Tuesday, May 24.Tumimbang said the 100 percent vaccination target is composed of 80 percent of Negros Occidental’s 2,623,026 population or 2,098,420 residents.Hitting 100 percent of their target will also mean the de-escalation of the alert levels of more local government units in the province, the majority of which are still under Alert Level 2, he said.The simultaneous massive vaccin...

The increase in dengue cases in Negros Occidental is alarming and hitting the alert level threshold, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said Tuesday, May 24.If the cases further increase the dengue situation in Negros could reach an epidemic level, he said.Dengue cases in Negros Occidental this year have increased by 205 percent compared to 2021, which is the highest in Western Visayas, Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, medical officer IV of the DOH WV Infectious Disease Section, said on Monday.Negros Occidental recorded 518 cases and five deaths from January 1 to May 14 this year, compared to 170 and three deaths in the same period in 2021, Natalaray said.However, a report from Tumimbang on Tuesday said the dengue cases in the province had only increased by 193.68 p...

Richard Malihan photoSan Enrique Mayor Jilson Tubillara, who won by 10 votes over his opponent Napoleon Delfinado Jr., and four winning councilors took their oaths before Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson at the Capitol in Bacolod City on Tuesday, May 24.Tubillara (NUP) won with 8,182 votes over Delfinado (NPC), who garnered 8,172 votes, for a sixth term as mayor of the San Enrique.“I’ve heard that they may file a complaint, but have not received a copy,” Tubillara said of his opponent.“A protest is normal in politics because some people will not immediately accept defeat,” he said.“I’m used to protest, there have been none that have prospered,” he said”.The Vote Counting Machines are 99.9 percent accurate, he said.“Protests are part of the democratic process…we will wai...

Capitol photoThe Negros Occidental Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation led by its president, Pocholo Yuvienco, spearheaded the Mandatory Training for SK appointed officials of Negros Occidental at the Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City, Tuesday, May 24.The activity aims to strengthen and empower the SK as a useful conduit in community development, emphasize the role of youth in nation-building, mold SK officials to become better citizens, and encourage the involvement of youth in public and civic affairs, through the establishment of effective, responsive, and enabling mechanisms, a press release from the Capitol said.The participants had a workshop and sessions on Decentralization and Local Governance, SK History and its Salient Features, Meetings and Resolutions, Planning a...

BenitezThe baseless and frivolous complaint filed by the incumbent mayor is another desperate move of one who refuses to accept the truth.The conduct of the 2022 elections was generally peaceful, credible and orderly.No documented and concrete evidence has been shown to prove any irregularities at the voting precincts.Such electoral protest is therefore an exercise of futility, and will surely be dismissed.The people of Bacolod have spoken and it is time to move on and buckle down to work.*

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia at his Grupo Progreso miting de avance on May 7.*Mayor Evelio Leonardia is seeking a manual recount of votes in all 450 clustered precincts in Bacolod and for the Commission on Elections to declare a "failure of elections" in Bacolod City.He is also calling for special polls in the city due to alleged massive vote-buying and fake voters being allowed to cast their votes that resulted to the "mysterious and unbelievable" outcome of the May 9 polls.The mayor’s complaint before the Comelec on Friday, May 20, was docketed as Election Protest Case No. 008-2022.Leonardia who garnered 107,447 votes in the May 9 polls lost to former Rep. Alfredo “Albee” Benitez who won with 171,893 votes.*