JV says he’s more eligible to run for Senate than Jinggoy
Former Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
If there is one Estrada who should run for a Senate seat in 2019, Senator JV Ejercito believes that it should be him.
After all, Ejercito said he has not been involved in any anomaly or corruption and he makes it sure to keep the name of the family clean.
But as early as April this year, his half-brother, former Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, has already announced that he will run for senator in 2019.
READ: Jinggoy: I will run for senator in 2019 polls
The prospects of them running together for senator prompted Ejercito to leave their father’s political party, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), and joined the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
“It was a difficult decision for me to leave my father’s party, PMP, but I just had to make the decision and stand by my principle, sa aking paniniwala, na sana isa lang yung tumakbo, after all, ako lang yun dahil ako’y isa sa author ng anti-political dynasty…” Ejercito said during a regular forum at the Senate on Thursday.
“In fact dun sa SK reform, it was an ‘Ejercito provision’ yung anti-political dynasty provision, so I just want to be consistent,” he said.
He reiterated that it would not look good if he and his brother would run together for the Senate.
Asked in a text message later if it should be him, and not his brother, who should run in 2019, Ejercito said: “Sana dahil incumbent ako, maayos naman ang performance ko at hight sa lahat wala akong issues.”
During the same forum, the senator noted how he tried to keep their name clean. He said he is proud that he has never been involved in any corruption.
“So wala ho akong bahid kaya siguro sana naman maging proud din siya na that I did my best to keep my name clean,” Ejercito said, referring to his father.
Ejercito said he and his father have yet to talk after he left the PMP.
They saw and greeted each other Wednesday night in two separate events but Ejercito said they did not have time to talk.
The senator said he nevertheless plans to talk to his father before he files his certificate of candidacy (COC) for mayor. He has yet to announce when he would file his COC.
As to his brother, Ejercito remains hopeful that they could still end their decades-old rift.
“Kasi honestly, medyo naging malalim na rin kasi ang hidwaan…but hopefully both of us will realize soon, be mature enough na di nakakabuti sa amin pareho,” he further said. /jpv/ac
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