Candidates in the Central Negros Electric Cooperative district elections on April 26 have filed protests against each other yesterday before the screening committee headed by Artemio Nonan.

District IV candidate Edward Gasambelo filed a disqualification protest late morning against Andres Leonardia, brother of Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who also sought his disqualification earlier.

At around 2:30 p.m., Leonardia filed an answer/opposition to Gasambelo’s protest and asked the screening committee to deny his opponents protest.  

Leonardia had formerly worked for electric cooperatives, including CENECO and V-M-C Rural Electric Service Cooperative while Gasambelo is an electrical engineer.

Gasambelo, in his three-page protest, reiterated that Leonardia failed to comply with the requirement for residency under Article II, section 7 of the CENECO Election Code, stating that a candidate should be a resident of the district for at least one year.

“He is actually a resident of Silay City and this fact is of public knowledge,” he said, adding that Leonardia’s address at Acacia Road, Villa Angela in Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod City is “a deliberate and fraudulent ploy to cover up his true and correct residential address.”

Gasambelo claimed that a verification revealed that the property was leased to him by a certain Gerard Gamboa, for the period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2007.

However, Leonardia, in his answer/opposition said on Oct. 8, 2008, eight months after he leased the lot and house from Gamboa, he bought both properties for P800,000 as indicated in the Deed of Absolute Sale.

“(R)espondent Andres Leonardia is therefore a bonafide resident of Villamonte, Bacolod City and is qualified to run….”  Leonardia’s lawyer Lorendo Dilag stated in their three-page answer.

Also, Gasambelo pointed out that Leonardia’s involvement in their family corporation which publishes the Visayan Daily Star is a violation of Article II, section 7, paragraph 7 of the election code.

He said the publication directly does business with CENECO as shown in the CENECO check payment to Visayan Daily Star in the amount of P4,350 on April 18, 2008.

But Dilag said that “records will bear out that (Leonardia) had ceased or had stopped from being managing director of the Visayan Daily Star on Jan. 2, 2006 based on the certification issued by its president Ninfa Leonardia.

On the issue that he is related to the mayor of  Bacolod that owes CENECO about P200 million for several years, Leonardia said in a telephone interview that the National Electrification Administration guidelines do not prohibit him from running as director because he is a brother of the city mayor.

He also said that CENECO itself owes the city government the same amount of franchise taxes, but he believes that that problem will be remedied if CENECO will register with the Cooperative Development Authority because it will already be exempt from paying taxes.

Leonardia said he is running because he has the experience, competence and track record in managing electric cooperatives.

“I can be of great help in CENECO,” he said, adding his decision to run is not politically-motivated.

“Bing (referring to the mayor) was surprised that I ran,” he said.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said at the City Hall yesterday that his elder brother’s candidacy at CENECO is only incidental.

It’s his personal decision and it is his right. After all he is very familiar with CENECO, considering that he was one of its managers in the past, he said.

“I don’t think there is a conflict of interest because we assure the public that we will always decide on the basis of merits,” the mayor added.

Gasambelo, who admitted being backed by Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, said he believes that he owes it to the consumers in his district to act on the information he received regarding Leonardia. “It’s unfair to them if I will not act that’s why (I’m bringing) this up for the information of the screening committee.”

Leonardia, for his part, said he believes the screening committee is capable of coming up with an unbiased decision. “They’re people of integrity despite the pressure.”

Roel Venus, head of the Cooperative Promotion Section, yesterday said the screening committee   would decide on the protests after 48 hours.*NLG

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