Bacolod mayor wins polls by record margin

MANILA, Philippines — Bacolod City Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia won another term in the elections last week, with 144,776 votes, the highest garnered by a local candidate in the city.  

Leonardia and his Grupo Progreso partymates – Rep. Greg Gasataya and Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran as well as 11 of the 12 winning councilors – were proclaimed on Thursday last week. 

Leonardia won by 63,528 votes against his closest rival former councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, who got only 81,248 votes.

Familiaran got 126,238 votes or a difference of 34,417 over his rival, former vice mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, who got only 91,821 votes.

Gasataya garnered 135,346 votes, or a lead of 50,641 over his challenger, former congressman Monico Puentevella, who got only 84,705 votes. 

Leonardia, a former congresman, was elected to his sixth term as mayor, making him the longest-serving local official of Bacolod. 

When he ran for councilor in 1988, Leonardia got more than 69,000 votes, which were more than those garnered by the candidates for mayor and vice mayor at the time.

When he ran for mayor in 1995, the 84,000 votes that he garnered was also the highest compared to the other candidates.

In succeeding elections, Leonardia broke his own records when he got 110,000 votes in 2007 and 120,000 votes in 2016.