BACOLOD CITY – The Commission on Elections en banc has upheld the ruling of the Comelec's Second Division and dismissed the petition filed by former Bacolod City mayor Evelio Leonardia for a vote recount and the nullification of the proclamation of Alfredo Abelardo Benitez as mayor of the city.

In a resolution dated April 23, the Comelec en banc junked the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by Leonardia on Sept. 19, 2022 and affirmed the Second Divisions' order dated Sept. 7, 2022.

"Aside from the fact that the Petition is insufficient in form and content, the Protestant failed to adduce evidence and to justify the need to open and revise all ballots of the 450 clustered precincts. For this reason, the eagerness of Protestant to seek revision of all 450 ballots of the clustered precincts in Bacolod City is misplaced," the resolution said.

"Unquestionably, the grounds recited in the protest will not require a revision of the ballots. Allegations of massive vote-buying before and after the casting and counting of votes; threat or intimidation; and fake voters are averments in an election protest that need to be proven, not merely alleged," the Comelec en banc ruled.

During the May 9, 2022 elections, Benitez received 171,893 votes while Leonardia garnered 107,447 votes.

Lawyer Caesar Distrito, spokesman of the mayor, said, "Mayor Albee Benitez has once again prevailed in the latest decision of the Comelec."

"All the legal actions filed by the camp of former mayor Evelio Leonardia against Mayor Albee Benitez were all either dismissed or denied, and ruled in favor of the latter, including the petition questioning the transfer of registration of Mayor Albee," Distrito said.

"The decision is a clear manifestation that their election protests were purely harassment and had no legal and factual basis at all. It was purely made to save faces in the aftermath of then-incumbent mayor Bing Leonardia's defeat in the hands of former congressman Albee Benitez. "

"The denial of the MR will now put to rest any doubts to the victory of Mayor Albee Benitez that were cast by Leonardia's camp. Mayor Albee won clearly and convincingly with a margin of 64,446 votes. The people have spoken, and so is the Comelec."

The former mayor has not issued a statement in reaction to the decision of the Comelec en banc at press time.