A TARPAULIN with the image of Laguna Gov. ER Ejercito beside the picture of President Aquino that the ruling Liberal Party in Laguna described as an act of deception. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A Liberal Party (LP) official criticized Laguna Gov. ER Ejercito for his reported use of President Benigno Aquino’s likeness in his campaign paraphernalia.
Samar Rep. Mel Sarmiento, LP secretary general, said Ejercito was making it appear that Aquino was endorsing his reelection bid.
“Deception of the highest order,” Sarmiento said in a statement of Ejercito’s use of Mr. Aquino’s pictures in his tarpaulins.
Mr. Aquino has twice visited Laguna during the campaign trail and has endorsed the gubernatorial bid of Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis.
Sarmiento said that during his last visit to Laguna in April, Mr. Aquino not only endorsed San Luis, but also slammed Ejercito, calling the actor-politician “Asiong Aksaya (Wasteful Asiong)” in apparent reference to the character, a thief, that Ejercito has played in a recent movie.
Just last week, the President made an issue over the use of the color yellow on campaign posters of non-LP bets in General Santos City.
In an earlier statement, Sarmiento said Ejercito’s paraphernalia made it seem as if Aquino was endorsing him. Ejercito’s posters bore the image of Mr. Aquino on the left and the Virgin Mary on the right, with the Laguna governor flashing the United Nationalist Alliance sign.
Sarmiento said he had written Ejercito to demand the immediate removal of his campaign materials with the President’s picture.