Former Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada is out of the list of possible senatorial bets of the ruling PDP-Laban because of his half-brother, incumbent Sen. JV Ejercito.
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has also admitted that he chose Ejercito over Estrada to be part of the lineup because of his commitment to push for the incumbent’s inclusion in the slate.
“Andyan si JV sa listahan e,” Pimentel, PDP-Laban party president, said in a phone patch interview with Senate reporters on Thursday.
“Sana ma-gets na ninyo,” he added.
Asked if he chose Ejercito over Estrada, Pimentel answered “Yes.”
“Kasi commitment ko kay JV yan na ipu-push ko yung inclusion nya sa PDP-Laban,” added the Senate leader.
Sought for comment, Ejercito thanked Pimentel for his “trust and confidence” but clarified that there was no condition imposed that only one member of the family could be included in the ticket.
“I am thankful to SP Koko for that trust and confidence, but it was really his decision, there is no condition imposed that there should only be one member of the family,” he said in a text message.
“I didn’t ask for this. Perhaps SP Koko knows the performance of his colleagues in the Senate, that is probably his basis for giving priority to re-electionists,” he added.
Estrada earlier expressed his desire to be part of the PDP-Laban senatorial ticket. Should he not be chosen by the party, Estrada said he would just run as an independent candidate.
“Basta ako (As for me) I will run under the administration ticket,” he said in an interview last week.
“If they will not get me, I will run as an independent but I will be supportive of the administration of President Duterte no matter what happens,” the former senator added.
READ: Jinggoy: I will run for senator in 2019 polls /muf