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Mayoral contender and Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran concedes on election night
BACOLOD, Philippines – Representative Greg Gasataya of Bacolod City defeated Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran in the May 12 mayoral race.
He won with 157,150 votes against Familiaran’s 143,307, a margin of 13,843.
Gasataya, a former radio anchor of Bombo Radyo-Bacolod, began his political career in 2001 as city councilor. He later served as vice mayor (2013–2016), acting mayor (2015–2016), and congressman from 2016 to 2025.
Familiaran conceded on election night, saying, “I am proud to have been a part of this process, and I wish the incoming administration all the best,”
Meanwhile, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez defeated former mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia in the race for the city’s lone congressional seat.
Final figures from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed Benitez winning with 164,145 votes, or 44,714 more than Leonardia, who garnered 119,431.
The victory marks Benitez’s second win over Leonardia, whom he unseated in the 2022 mayoral race with a margin of over 60,000 votes.
In the vice mayoral race, Councilor Kalaw Puentevella – son of former mayor and congressman Monico Puentevella – defeated fellow councilor Renecito Novero. Puentevella secured 146,639 votes against Novero’s 133,706, winning by a margin of 12,933.
Benitez, Gasataya, and Puentevella ran under the Team Asenso ticket, which also dominated the city council races.
Of the 12 winning councilors, 11 belong to Team Asenso: Caesar Distrito, Israel Salanga, Em Ang, Thaddy Sayson, Jason Isidro Villarosa, Celia Matea Flor, Bobby Rojas, Dindo Ramos, Pao Sy, Homer Bais, and Al Victor Espino.
The only independent candidate to win a seat was returning councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr., who placed eighth. Gamboa, also the sole independent winner in 2019, broke through a slate otherwise swept by Leonardia’s Team Grupo Progreso during that election cycle.
Silay race
In Silay City, Negros Occidental, Mayor Joedith Gallego secured a second straight victory over sugar planter and former mayor Mark Golez, despite a deadly shooting incident that claimed the lives of two of his supporters on election day.
Gallego, 64, garnered 45,913 votes, defeating Golez by 15,262 – a fivefold increase from his 3,018-vote margin in their 2022 rematch, according to official figures from the Comelec. He won in 15 of the city’s 16 barangays.
The clash between Gallego and Golez, former political allies, was widely seen as a “David versus Goliath” battle, with Gallego campaigning as a grassroots “man of the masses” against the entrenched haciendero bloc.
In 2022, Gallego made history as the first non-landowning mayor of Silay.
The two were elected as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, in 2016. Their alliance broke down midway through their term, leading Gallego to challenge Golez in 2019. He lost then, but made a stunning comeback three years later.
His running mate, Vice Mayor Thomas Maynard “Tom” Ledesma, also secured a third and final term after defeating former TV news anchor Ryan Gamboa by a wide margin. Ledesma received 48,039 votes to Gamboa’s 25,593, a lead of 22,446.
Both vice mayoral candidates are from prominent sugar planter families. Gamboa is the son of the late Negros Occidental vice governor Roy Gamboa. – Rappler.com
