Erap visits nephew ER Ejercito in Laguna

Joseph Estrada / Photo from Joseph Estrada’s Official Facebook Page

MANILA — Former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada visited his nephew, unseated Laguna governor ER Ejercito to convince him to leave the Laguna Provincial Capitol.

Despite the Commission on Elections’s (Comelec) unanimous vote to disqualify the Laguna governor for overspending during the 2013 elections, Ejercito remains at the provincial capitol.

Estrada, during his visit, defended his nephew saying that Ejercito is being singled out by Comelec since there are also a lot of candidates who overspent during the election.

Ejercito defied Comelec’s order to leave his post and insisted to wait for a decision from the Supreme Court.

Ejercito has earlier filed a temporary restraining order against the Comelec’s order arguing that his right to due process was violated.

According to the Comelec, Ejercito spent P23.5 million during the campaign, a figure that is far beyond the P4.5 million authorized campaign limit or only P3 each for 1,525,522 voters.

Comelec records showed Ejercito spent P23.5 million during the campaign, way beyond his authorized campaign limit of P4.5 million or P3 each for each voter.

Laguna Vice-Governor Ramil Hernandez of the Nacionalista Party was already sworn to office after Ejercito failed to get a halt order from the Supreme Court on the disqualification order.

Since then, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has already served the unseated governor a writ of execution.