Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez said he did not attend the Nationalist People’s Coalition mass oathtaking Saturday in Bacolod City because he had not been invited.

“I do not usually go to events when I am not invited. I do not gate- crash,” he said.

Golez said he heard that the gathering was an event of the province, and the event of Bacolod is different from that of the province, so he did not go.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson were officially endorsed as NPC candidates for congressman and mayor, respectively, for Bacolod City by Tarlac, 1st District Rep. Henry Cojuangco, the brother of NPC chairman emeritus Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, during the gathering that was also attended by incumbent and former councilors from the NPC.

Golez said he is still an NPC member and he is waiting officially to be kicked out of the party after which, he will plan for the next chapter in his life, he said.

But in the meantime, he is still an NPC, Golez said. And if ever they will kick him out, he will still be an NPC since he has no problem with the party, especially the national NPC, he said. He not a traitor to his partymates, he added.

Golez said it is just unfortunate that the local party has a different game plan so he will just submit to the wishes of the NPC.

Since the chairman of the party in the district is the mayor, if he has plans of running, all he has to do is kick out the congressman of the party, he said. Anyway, at the end of the day it is the people who will vote for the congressman they want, he added.

Leonardia, who was recently designated NPC district chairman for Bacolod, said they never kicked Golez out. “He kicked himself out,” he said.

The NPC had never “padlocked” its door nor had his membership with the party “annulled” he added.

But for the record, all the NPC members in Bacolod endorsed him for congressman instead of Golez, Leonardia said. So the NPC hierarchy had to respond to the sentiment of its members in Bacolod, he said.

After the inimical acts Golez committed against the NPC in Bacolod, he should not expect its members to endorse him, Leonardia said. If NPC did not recognize him, it was his own doing, he said.

Golez said he can run as an independent candidate but still a member of the NPC.

“I am still the congressman and I would like to remain as the congressman of the city, if that is the wishes of the chairman emeritus of the NPC,” he said.

When informed about the endorsement of Leonardia and Sayson, Golez said if there is an official pronouncement he will abide by it.

He claimed that he helped the group during the 2010 elections so they were all winners. After that he was not invited to several official functions, he added.

Leonardia said he is hallucinating which proves he is a master of deceit propaganda. His old habit is still there, he said, referring to Golez’s previous job as former spokesperson of former President Arroyo.

Meanwhile, Golez denied having anything to do about the rumors being spread last week that Leonardia was suspended.

The rumors spread when Leonardia designated City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan as officer-in-charge of the City Mayor’s Office when the mayor attended a weeklong seminar of the Commission on Audit in Iloilo City last week,

“I have too many in my plate as a congressman. I have been doing many things especially during the Budget hearing last week where I defended the city’s budget for 2013,” he said.*CGS

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