The camp of former Bacolod mayor Evelio Leonardia declined to issue a statement, for now, in reaction to the poll protest it filed against incumbent Alfredo Benitez, but stressed that they will exhaust all available legal remedies to ensure that justice will be done to the voters of the City.
The election protest was dismissed by the Second Division of the Commission on Elections, for “being improperly filed and for being insufficient in form and content”, based on the order dated Sept. 7, and signed by Comelec Second Division Presiding Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, and Senior Member Commissioner Rey Bulay.
“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,” Dr. Chris Sorongon, spokesperson of Leonardia, said in a statement Sept. 10. “Rest assured that our protest complied with all requirements of the Comelec and the law”.
He assured that Leonardia’s counsel will face the issues squarely at the proper time and forum.
On May 20, Leonardia, through counsels Marcus Vaflor and Jireh Alimon, lodged a post-proclamation protest before the Comelec central office in Manila, called for a manual recount of all 450 clustered precincts, and for the poll body to declare failure of elections because of massive vote-buying and fake voters, who were allowed to cast their ballots, the statement added. ||
