Negros LP chair urged not to leave

BACOLOD CITY—Original members of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) in Negros Occidental are urging Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (third district) not to leave the administration party.

The appeal was made after an agreement reached among LP officials in the province during a meeting over the weekend, said former Negros Occidental Board Member Victor Puey.

“The real members of the Liberal Party in Negros Occidental support you and we hope and pray you come back to us,” said the group in a statement.

“It is not the money that you spent for the party but the importance in leadership you showed us and that is what is not happening now,” the group statement said.

Benitez, 48, is LP provincial chair but he filed his certificate of candidacy for reelection as an independent.

“As of now, I’m party-less,” he earlier explained when asked if he still belonged to LP.

Benitez met with LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas on Monday apparently to discuss his status with the administration party after he learned, through media reports, that he had been replaced as LP provincial chair.

When reached by the Inquirer, Benitez declined to divulge details of the meeting.

Benitez, the fourth richest member of the House of Representatives, earlier said he had not resigned from LP as provincial chair.

But on Oct. 7, LP president Joseph Emilio Abaya designated former Negros Occidental Gov.  Rafael Coscolluela as provincial chair with authority to nominate and issue certificates of nomination to party candidates in the province.

Benitez has two opponents in his reelection bid—Antonio Barello Jr. (Independent) and Gerard Anthony Puey (National Unity Party).

Victor Puey said Gerard is a nephew but his family has nothing to do with his decision to run against Benitez.