JV Ejercito may be disqualified if he uses ‘Estrada’ surname: Comelec

“It has happened before that someone filed a candidacy with the same name as a major candidate. Peter Cayetano ran against Alan Cayetano. So nagkaroon ng ganyang issue and that has to be resolved (So that’s been an issue and that has to be resolved).” (File Photo: JV Ejercito/Facebook)

MANILA — Reelectionist Senator JV Ejercito might be “inviting” anyone to file a nuisance case against him in case he pushes through with his plan to use the surname of his father, Manila mayor Joseph Estrada, in his senatorial bid in the 2019 elections.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez made this remark Friday, following reports that the reelectionist senator will use the Estrada surname when he files his certificate of candidacy for senator.

Jimenez said Ejercito “can give his name as an alias, as a nickname, but that does not stop anyone from filing a nuisance case against him,” citing the case of Senator Alan Cayetano and a certain Peter Cayetano.

“It has happened before that someone filed a candidacy with the same name as a major candidate. Peter Cayetano ran against Alan Cayetano. So nagkaroon ng ganyang issue and that has to be resolved (So that’s been an issue and that has to be resolved),” the poll body official said in an interview.

He said if JV Ejercito Estrada and his half-brother, former senator Jinggoy Estrada, would both use their father’s surname, someone can file a case not to allow one of them to use the Estrada name.

“Ang pwedeng mangyari is someone can file a case and ‘yung proseso na ‘yan is nuisance (What could happen is someone may file a case and that process is nuisance) because declaring a candidate as a nuisance candidate (happens) if they adopted a name to create confusion,” Jimenez noted.

“This can apply to any pair na may famous last name na pinagaagawan. ‘Yung ang bottom line dyan sometimes pingaagawan ang important name (This can apply to any pair which has a famous last name. The bottomline here is that sometimes they are snatching the name from each other),” he added.