Clan of candidates

MANILA, Philippines - Laguna Gov. Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito never got to have the success in the film industry that was enjoyed by his uncle Joseph “Erap” Estrada. But in the May 2013 elections, he managed to beat his more famous uncle – their clan’s political patriarch – in at least one aspect: the amount of funds he poured into his election campaign.

Erap Estrada spent almost P2.2 million of his own money in his bid as mayor of Manila, according to documents submitted to the Commission on Elections. His nephew ER, son of the late character actor George Estregan (Estrada’s younger brother), bested that amount by at least P77,000.

In his Statement of Election Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE), ER declared a total of P4,101,586 in campaign expenditure, of which P1.1 million came from a donation. With no other declared donor or source of fund, the remaining P2,968,600 apparently came from ER’s personal funds.

ER’s wife Girlie Maita, meanwhile, said the entire P80,160.31 she spent on her Pagsanjan mayoralty campaign came from her own pockets. A similar claim was made by Guia Gomez, Erap Estrada’s partner, by whom he has a son, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito. According to Gomez, she covered her campaign expenditure (for San Juan City mayor) with a total of P238,898 in personal funds.

Gomez, however, donated P20 million to son JV’s senatorial campaign. By comparison, JV said he used almost P2.3 million of his own money for his run for a Senate seat.

At least two other members of the clan who ran for public office last May also said they used personal funds to add to their respective campaign coffers.

One was Janella Ejercito, Erap’s 23-year-old granddaughter by son Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, who ran and won as San Juan City councilor. Janella declared having used nearly P108,000 of her own money for her campaign, which saw her spending almost P50,000 for the printing and distribution of campaign materials such as tarpaulins, calendars, and flyers.

Another Ejercito who plunked down personal funds for her own public office bid was Jannah Ejercito, daughter of yet another Erap brother, Jesse. Jannah, however, lost in the race to represent the lone district of San Juan.