JV Ejercito tells Senator Estrada: Sorry, bro

San Juan Rep. Jose Victor Ejercito and Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada. FILE PHOTOS

San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Saturday apologized to his half-brother Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada but maintained that he never said anything bad against the latter.

“Kung ano man ‘yon ako’y humihingi ng paumanhin kung siya ay nasaktan pero gusto ko lang linawin na wala akong masamang intensyon na siya ay saktan at may sabihin na masama dahil nirerespeto ko po siya bilang akin kuya at bilang senador ng ating bayan (Whatever it was, I would like to ask for forgiveness if I hurt him but I would like to clarify that I didn’t have any intention of hurting him or saying anything bad against him because I have so much respect for him as my elder brother and a senator of the land),” said Ejercito in a phone interview over dyLA radio in Cebu City.

Ejercito said he had not talked to Jinggoy since the controversy erupted over remarks he reportedly made in a press conference in Bacolod City.

Ejercito said he had been scolded by their father, former President Joseph Estrada, and was summoned by him to a meeting on Sunday.

“Hintayin na lang po namin. Mas gusto ko na rin po siguro na makaharap ang aming ama para kung ano man ang dapat ayusin ay iyon po ang aming sagutin (Let’s just wait. I would prefer that we face our father so that if anything needs fixing we would have an answer),” he added.

Ejercito stressed he didn’t use the phrase “sibling rivalry” to describe his relationship with Jinggoy at the press conference.

He said a reporter asked him if he would vote along the same lines as his elder brother if he became a senator and if that wouldn’t be like a “buy one take one” deal.

Ejercito said he answered that they would have different stands on several issues but “we respect each other’s opinions.”

Asked if they would debate in the Senate, Ejercito said he told the reporter: “That will be exciting to watch.”

Not good friends

Ejercito admitted it was true he had said that they were not really good friends (buddy-buddy) but they were not fighting.

“I want to make it clear, wala sa character ko talaga magsimula ng away. Unang una sino ba naman ako para labanan ang aking kapatid. Siya po ay senador ng Republika ng Pilipinas. Eh ako po ay… sino ba naman si JV Ejercito Estrada? (It is not in my character to start a fight. In the first place, who am I to fight with my brother. He is a senator of the Republic of the Philippines. Me, I am just JV Ejercito Estrada),” he said.

It was reportedly JV’s decision to use the Estrada name in the coming senatorial campaign that drew Jinggoy’s ire. Estrada is the former president’s screen name which the public is more familiar with.

Ejercito said it may have been people around them who blew the issue out of proportion.

First posted 5:33 pm | Saturday, November 10th, 2012