The hearing of the petition for exclusion of former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez from the list of registered voters of Bacolod City will be held at the Bacolod Hall of Justice 2 p.m. Tuesday, September 28, his lawyer Andrei Saril said.
The petition filed by Grupo Progreso allies Hector Yula, Teodoro Abao and Jonah Tornea Abao will be heard by Judge Francisco Pando of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 4.
The petition was filed against Benitez and the Bacolod Election Registration Board (ERB) composed of Bacolod Elections Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña, City Civil Registrar Hermilo Pa-oyon and Schools Superintendent Gladys Amelaine Sales.
The petitioners want Benitez excluded from the list of registered voters of Precinct No. 0629A in Barangay Mandalagan, Bacolod.
Benitez said the petition was filed by the same people who opposed his transfer of voter registration before the Bacolod ERB, which was dismissed.
“They don’t want me to reach the elections, they want to rob the people’s right to choose their leader,” Benitez said earlier.
Benitez has announced that he is running for mayor of Bacolod in 2022 against incumbent Evelio Leonardia of Grupo Progreso.*