Brillantes: No partisan politics in ER Ejercito ouster

Commission on Elections chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Elections chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. dismissed claims that the poll body was only going after opposition politicians who violated election rules after one of its divisions decided to unseat Laguna Governor Jeorge “ER” Ejercito.

Brillantes pointed out that the Comelec en banc last week ordered the filing of charges against Antique Governor Exequiel Javier, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, after he illegally suspended a mayor during the last elections.

“We are hearing (comments) that politics is supposed to be involved (in ER’s case) because he was the first one to be hit and he is a member of a (prominent political clan). I don’t understand that,” Brillantes said in a separate interview.

Ejercito is a nephew of former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada and a cousin of embattled Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, who was recently charged with plunder for his alleged role in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

“Ten days ago, we came out with a resolution charging for an election offense the incumbent governor of Antique, Governor Exequiel Javier, and his party is the Liberal Party,” Brillantes said.

“So, we don’t bother with their party affiliations, initials, or who they are. What we are focusing on is the election law which we are supposed to implement and enforce,” he added.

Brillantes said that the Comelec was reviewing all the statements of contributions and expenditures (SOCEs) that were submitted by candidates in the recent midterm elections, including those from senators.

“All of them. We are reviewing and auditing them to find out if there’s any violation. In fact, we are reviewing the SOCEs submitted not just by the winners but also by the losers,” Brillantes said.

“If you violated the law, sorry but everyone should follow the law,” he added.

Brillantes reiterated that Estrada already spent P6 million in one television advertisement transaction when his limit was P4.5 million for the 1,525,522 registered voters in Laguna.

“There was this one contract, which he signed, worth P6 million. It exceeded (the limit) already,” he said, adding that it was only for two slots of television advertisements supposedly worth P3 million each.

“But there are more…There are still four or five slots (that have yet to be audited),” Brillantes said in a separate interview on Radyo Inquirer 990AM.

He said the amount used for the advertisement was actually donated by a company and the donation was signed for and accepted by Ejercito.

“He accepted the large donation and spent it. It is difficult to hide (that kind of advertisement transaction) because it is documented by the large (media) networks,” Brillantes said.

Brillantes said candidates should strictly follow election rules even if they believe that the limit of “P3 per voter” imposed by the campaign finance law was too low.

“We were not the ones who crafted the law. Unless that law is changed, we will enforce it. We’ve been warning about this since two to three months ago,” he said.

“We talked about this before the elections so (Ejercito’s case) is just the start. This is not the end. I think many more might follow,” Brillantes added.

Right after news of his disqualification came out, Ejercito posted on Facebook, “I just hope and pray that evil politics is not behind all these.”

Ejercito’s disqualification stemmed from a complaint by his opponent Edgar San Luis.

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