The lawyers of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said they will file a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court questioning the decision of the Commission on Elections-First Division in denying their request to implead Smartmatic as co-protestee in the electoral protest filed by former Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella against the mayor.

Puentevella had filed an election protest before the COMELEC on May 24, 2010 seeking the annulment of the proclamation of Leonardia, citing massive fraud and irregularities in the casting, counting and transmission of votes committed by the Board of Election Inspectors allegedly in connivance with the mayor.

Bacolod City Assessor Maphilindo Polvora, one of the legal counsels of Leonardia, yesterday said they will also file a petition for declaratory relief questioning the validity of Comelec Resolution No. 9164 that provides the procedures for manual recount.

Leonardia said the Comelec usually gives all election protests due course, but they are extremely confident that it will dismiss the protest filed by Puentevella against him.

Polvora said Comelec may resolve the case beyond the 2013 elections, considering that, among the election protests filed by losing candidates, Bacolod ranks number 81.

In a radio interview earlier, Puentevella said that the dismissal of the motion filed by Leonardia means that the recounting of ballots will continue and that he was made to choose the precincts which he is questioning.

City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan said records of the Comelec showed that the mayor won in 186 out of the 307 clustered precincts in the May 10, 2010 elections while Puentevella won only in 121 precincts.

He said the mayor garnered 93,519 votes while Puentevella got 86,258 votes.

Bayatan said they consider the protest filed by Puentevella as “clownish, or a circus.”

5 WINNING PARTYMATES

He said this is because, if he claims that all the 307 clustered precincts were affected by massive fraud and irregularities, how does he explain the victory of his five partymates under his MONOPAL Team, referring to Councilors El Cid Familiaran, Archie Baribar, Elmer Sy, Sonya Verdeflor and Catalino Alisbo?  

Bayatan said when Puentevella was required to pay the fees for the recount, he only wanted to pay for the 186 precincts where he lost, knowing that it would be expensive to ask for the recount of all the 307 precincts.

“Our stand is that we will not file any counter protest because we believe that the election was clean and honest, and we believe in the competence and integrity of the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines,” Bayatan said.

Polvora said they are confident that the people have accepted the result of the elections, even the victory of President Benigno Aquino III, that was through the PCOS.

He said the Comelec decided to hold an automated election for transparency and to eliminate fraud and he believes it will dismiss these protests filed by the losing candidates.

Leonardia said he will not waste his time on the protest of Puentevella, but will concentrate on his job as mayor of Bacolod.

“This scheme, among others, is meant to distract me, but I assure our people that I will never be distracted,” he said, adding that he is used to these distractions from Puentevella who had also filed a protest when he also defeated him in the vice mayoralty race in 1992.*CGS

back to top