JV Ejercito denies he owns offshore firm

San Juan Representative Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito Estrada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

LUCENA CITY, Philippines— San Juan Representative Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito Estrada on Friday denied he owned a corporation in the British Virgin Islands that he allegedly failed to declare in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

This came amid the controversy he supposedly snubbed Janella Estrada, daughter of his half-brother, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, during the United Nationalist Alliance’s (UNA) rally in San Juan City Thursday.

Estrada likened the attacks to the criticisms suffered by his father, former president Joseph Estrada, when he was ousted in 2001.
“It’s Erap bashing all over again. We know who they are. Its 2001 all over again,” he said in a text message, referring to the year when the former President was ousted and jailed on charges of plunder.

JV denied having snubbed Janella, an issue which prompted Jinggoy to air his disappointment with his half-brother.

He also denied information in a Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism report that he owned a company called Ice Bell Properties Limited in the British Virgin Islands.

The said the company was not declared in Estrada’s SALN, according to the PCIJ report.

But the lawmaker maintained that he “truthfully and accurately” declared his SALN and questioned instead the timing of the release of the report on his supposed offshore company.

“(The) demolition job has started. First they hit on my character by snubbing my niece, now its accounts and properties in question,” said Estrada.

Asked who he thought was behind such efforts, Estrada said that it could be “another fellow candidate probably fanning this demo job to cover up his own issues.”

“Because they cannot find anything irregular in my stint as a public official, no onerous or anomalous contracts or transactions, that is why they need to dig into the past,” he said.

Detractors have also hit Nancy Binay and Cagayan Representative Jack Enrile and UNA campaign manager and Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco expects attacks on their candidates to intensify even more as election day drew near.

“For the past six days, JV (Ejercito) has been the subject of different flavors of slime and smear. What hurts is dragging the family into this propaganda circus just to pursue a political agenda. Makikita natin na kahit personal na buhay pati pamilya niya iniintriga,” said the UNA official.

Binay described the attacks to have become “very vicious” but maintained that she would not be discouraged in running for a seat in the Senate.

“I just hope they will spare my parents, especially my mother, from their demolition campaign,” she said.

Tiangco said that UNA believes that the attacks were being perpetrated by a “demolition crew” from the Liberal Party.

The opposition saw a “three-pronged” objective for the said demolition group “first is to take out our leading candidates from the race; second is to embarrass the Vice President, President Erap and JPE; and finally, to secure the 12-0 scheme of the administration party.”