JV Ejercito arraigned on raps over purchase of 20 guns
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Thursday pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that he used P2.1 million in calamity funds when he was still San Juan mayor to buy 20 submachine guns for the city police in 2008.
Ejercito entered his plea in the Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division along with six other former city officials on charges of technical malversation over the questionable purchase of high-powered weapons as “investment for disaster preparedness.”
Also arraigned were former San Juan Vice Mayor Leonardo Celles and former Councilors Andoni Miguel Carballo, Dante Santiago, Eduardo Soriano, Joseph Christopher Torralba and Grace Pardines.
The son of former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Ejercito expressed confidence he would be able to prove his innocence. “I submitted myself to the legal process and I’m hoping for a favorable decision,” he told reporters.
Three of the other accused— Ejercito’s cousin and former San Juan councilor Jannah Ejercito-Surla, Vincent Rainier Pacheco and Francis Peralta—who were earlier conditionally arraigned ahead of a foreign trip, told the court they were also pleading not guilty.
Another set of accused led by former Vice Mayor Francis Zamora—then a councilor in 2008— were also arraigned earlier.
Last month, the antigraft court ruled that there was probable cause to try Ejercito, Zamora and the city councilors for technical malversation over the purchase of three Daewoo K2 submachine guns and 17 Daewoo K1 submachine guns.
Ejercito, who served three consecutive terms as mayor from 2001 to 2010, was accused of conspiring with other local officials to tap the city government’s calamity funds to buy the firearms in February 2008.
The city council had passed a resolution authorizing the purchase of the weapons even though San Juan was not facing a calamity at the time.
If convicted, Ejercito and his co-accused may face a jail term of six to 12 years plus a fine equivalent to 10 to 50 times their average daily income.
