BACOLOD City – Two persons – one a lawyer and the other a media man – will oppose reelectionist Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia in the May 13, 2019 midterm elections.
Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue and radio commentator Ray Carmona have filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) yesterday – two days before the filing period ends.
Batapa-Sigue, also a former city councilor, filed her COC at the Commission on Elections Bacolod office around 11:30 a.m. Carmona followed at around 3 p.m.
Batapa-Sigue said she is an “independent candidate” but is allied with the ABB-MKK (Asenso for Better Bacolod-Magbinuligay Kita sa Kauswagan) group, the opposition alliance that challenges Leonardia’s ruling Grupo Progreso (GP).
Batapa-Sigue’s vice running mate is former vice mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, who will be up against incumbent Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran.
Running for councilors under the ABB-MKK group are incumbent councilors Claudio Jesus Puentevella and Wilson Gamboa Jr., former councilor Homer Bais, and newcomers Edwin Balajadia, Reynaldo Ebreo, Rommel Jamero, Bobby Montelibano, Bernabe Sibug, Rico Villafuerte, Elmer Villanueva, and Jason Isidro Villarosa.
According to Batapa-Sigue, deciding to run for mayor was “very difficult.”
“It took a very deep level of personal reflection on my part to finally take this ultimate sacrifice. When I decided to leave politics in 2016, I was already prepared to become an ordinary citizen. But the same ordinary citizen is called to do an important task today,” said Batapa-Sigue when she filed her COC.
“My sense of duty to my city is so overwhelming that my heart has become oblivious of all the dangers and hardships that this mission will expose me to,” she added.
Batapa-Sigue is pushing for “JOBS,” which stands for Jobs and Investments Generation, Open Governance and Innovation, Barangay Empowerment and Development, and Sectoral and Citizens Engagement.
“Today, JOBS takes on a higher meaning for Bacolod,” she stressed.
Meanwhile, Carmona – a resident of Barangay Granada – said if elected mayor, he will focus on health and beautification programs for the city.
He said he wants to solve the traffic problem in Bacolod, too.
Carmona has run for councilor in 2013 but lost. He was allied with former mayor Monico Puentevella.
Puentevella also filed his COC on Tuesday. He wants to land a congressional seat as Bacolod’s lone district representative.
He will run against GP’s incumbent Rep. Greg Gasataya and newcomer Dr. Kevin Moises, who both filed their COCs on Oct. 11./PN
