ER, busy with movie, bowing to SC ruling

MANILA, Philippines - It would be “difficult” for Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito to win an appeal of his ouster as Laguna governor, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said yesterday as he urged his nephew to accept the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which was unanimously upheld recently by the Supreme Court (SC).

“I haven’t met with him yet. But I will advise him not to file a motion for reconsideration. It’s difficult because the ruling is unanimous,” Estrada said in a telephone interview with The STAR.

In disqualifying Ejercito, the Comelec said the latter spent more than P23 million for his campaign, or way above the allowed P4.5 million or P3 per voter.

The SC – voting 12-0 – junked last Tuesday Ejercito’s petition contesting his disqualification. It was Ejercito’s rival Edgar San Juan who filed the disqualification case against the actor.

Estrada said Ejercito should just take another crack at the governorship of Laguna in the 2016 elections.

The Manila mayor said he was wondering why his nephew was singled out considering that many other politicians had overspent in their campaign.

But Ejercito himself may have already accepted his fate and may even be returning to showbiz. The ousted governor had appeared in several films before becoming a politician.

While Ejercito had stayed out of the limelight since the SC’s announcement of its ruling, sources revealed he was busy working on his new film “Muslim Magnum .357,” which he hopes to finish in time for the Metro Manila Film Festival next month.

His camp said he would issue a statement as soon as he receives a copy of the High Tribunal’s decision. Sources said, however, he had already actually received his copy through his lawyer at an undisclosed place in Manila.

It was said that after learning of the SC decision from his lawyer, Ejercito remarked that he had no choice but to follow the ruling.

He is reportedly planning to make another bid for the governorship in 2016.

Malacañang, for its part, said yesterday it would abide by the SC ruling on Ejercito.

“We note the decision of the Supreme Court in connection with the case involving Ejercito. The government will continue to uphold the rule of law and will abide by the decision of the Supreme Court once the same becomes final and executory,” Presidential Communications Operations Office chief Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

He declined to comment on allegations that Malacañang had a hand in the governor’s ouster or that the latter had been singled out.

The Comelec also reiterated yesterday that it was not singling out Ejercito when it disqualified him in September 2013 for election overspending.

“There is no truth to allegations that the Comelec is singling out a particular person, family or political party,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said in a statement.

He noted it was not only Ejercito who was investigated for violation of election rules, particularly on campaign spending limits.

“In fact, the Comelec’s Campaign Finance Unit has been moving against more than a hundred candidates who overspent during the 2013 national and local elections,” Jimenez added.

Jimenez said the filing of cases against erring candidates “is proof that there are no sacred cows when it comes to holding accountable those who choose to violate campaign finance rules.”

“Politicians who will run for office in 2016 violate campaign finance rules at their own risk,” he added. Jose Rodel Clapano, Aurea Calica, Sheila Crisostmo, Ed Amoroso