Albee: 5th district polls
late April or early May
BY CARLA GOMEZ

A special election for the fifth congressional seat of Negros Occidentalthat the House of Representatives has declared vacant following the death of Rep. Ignacio Arroyo Jr. is expected to be held in the last week of April or first week of May, Rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) said yesterday.

House Resolution 2171 adopted as HR 00248 Monday night certifies the existence of a vacancy in the House of Representatives, particularly in the seat allotted to the fifth congressional district of the province of Negros Occidental, and calls for a special election to fill such vacancy, Benitez said.

The approved resolution was transmitted to the COMELEC on Tuesday and the poll body is expected to come out with the calendar of activities for the special election next week, he said.

The United Negros Drivers Operators Center yesterday said it welcomes political groups and the public to join and support their protest rally at the Fountain of Justice at Araneta Street in Bacolod City 2 p.m. today to call for the abolition of the expanded-value added tax on oil products, the repeal the Downstream Oil Deregula