Alfredo Abelardo Benitez. (Photo from his Facebook page)
BACOLOD CITY—“Truth hurts.”
This was the response on Wednesday of mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee” Benitez to the statement of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia that the election results in the city were “mysterious and unbelievable.”
Benitez garnered 171,893 votes, while Leonardia had 107,447 votes in Monday’s polls.
During the campaign, Benitez said he already knew they were winning, as shown by the overwhelming response of the people.
“Hopefully, we can do away with politics since the elections are over. (Let us) buckle down and get to work,” Benitez said.
Benitez has asked Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya to head their interim transition team to hit the ground running when they assume office.
Bong Dilag, a spokesman of Benitez, expressed their heartfelt empathy to Leonardia, whose May 2022 electoral debacle appears to have left him “reeling in shock and awe.”
“Indeed, it is a bitter pill to swallow. This, we must patiently try to understand,” Dilag said.
“It is crystal clear that Benitez successfully presented his plans and programs according to his vision and set of values that had strongly resonated with the Bacolodnons who have long hoped for change,” he added.
Leonardia recently said they believed there was an irregularity in the vote count, citing the manner of treating the casting of votes and the unusual and questionable malfunctioning of some vote-counting machines.
He also questioned the credibility and accuracy of the electronic transmission as well as the delivery of the vote results from the precincts to the Commission on Elections canvassing center.
Negros Occidental provincial elections supervisor Roberto Salazar said the Commission on Elections stood by the results of Monday’s polls in Bacolod City.
“He who alleges must prove the allegations. They can compare the results in their copies of the election returns per precinct with the transmitted results,” Salazar added.