SAN PEDRO CITY, Philippines – President Aquino “personally” wanted Jeorge “ER” Ejercito out of his gubernatorial office in Laguna, the former Laguna governor claimed Wednesday.
A fuming Ejercito, who stepped down in May 2014, said the Supreme Court (SC) ruling with finality on his disqualification case was something he had already “expected” from the Aquino administration.
“We knew (what the decision would have been) way back in May. I am not mad at (Commission on Elections Chair Sixto) Brillantes (Jr.) or (Chief Justice Maria Lourdes) Sereno because I know that they are just following orders from Pnoy (Aquino) to have me removed the fastest way,” Ejercito said Wednesday.
The high court on Tuesday junked Ejercito’s motion for reconsideration that sought a reverse of the high court’s November 2014 decision and instead, again upheld the decision of the Comelec to unseat Ejercito for overspending in the 2013 elections.
Asked on the phone why Aquino would have done so, Ejercito believed it was Liberal Party’s (LP) way of getting back at him after twice beating LP’s gubernatorial bets for Laguna in 2010 and 2013—-former Laguna governor Joey Lina and former Laguna Representative Edgar San Luis, respectively. LP is Aquino’s political party.
Ejercito, an actor turned politician, won by a wide margin against the LP candidates in the last two elections.
“They could not take me out legally (through elections) so they took me out illegally,” Ejercito claimed.
Ejercito also went on recalling that instance in the 2013 elections, when Aquino personally campaigned for San Luis in Calamba, Sta. Cruz, and San Pablo-—three of the vote-rich cities of Laguna.
Last year, Ejercito said he personally invited President Aquino to grace the Palarong Pambansa, which took place in Laguna from May 4-10. “But he told me he couldn’t come because he was busy,” he said.
Instead, those who came were Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Director Joel Villanueva and Education Secretary Armin Luistro who told Ejercito that his case was “tagilid (shaky).”
Ejercito also said that Brillantes, a lawyer of former president Joseph Estrada, also called him up on May 19, 2014, “and told me: ‘pasensya na’ (sorry).” That was the day the Comelec decision came out, disqualifying him from office for allegedly overspending during the 2013 campaign period.
“I forgive Aquino, but I will never forget what he had done and the embarrassment he had caused me in Laguna,” Ejercito said.