JV Estrada Ejercito has served in Congress for nearly a decade. His career as a legislator began in 2010 when he was elected district representative of the City of San Juan. He went on to serve one term in the Senate from 2013 to 2019.
Prior to his election to the Senate, he followed his father, former President Joseph Estrada, and half-brother, Jinggoy Estrada, to the San Juan City mayoralty, serving three consecutive terms from 2001 to 2010. The Ejercito-Estrada clan remained in power in San Juan City for 50 years, unseated only in 2019 when vice mayor Janella Estrada, daughter of Jinggoy Estrada, lost her mayoral bid to Francis Zamora.
As a lawmaker in the Senate, JV Ejercito principally authored over 17 laws including several healthcare laws. He was also an author and the principal sponsor of the landmark Universal Health Care Act which he vows to fully implement if elected in 2022.
Although JV Ejercito voted in favor of banning political dynasties in 2018, both he and his half-brother Jinggoy Estrada are running for senator in the upcoming 2022 elections. Ahead of both the 2019 and 2022 polls, JV Ejercito maintained that only one sibling should seek a Senate seat but they are both running anyway after failing to clinch seats in the midterms.
The two have been locked in a feud since Ejercito signed a 2014 Senate committee report on the pork barrel scam against Estrada, former Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and Juan Ponce Enrile, indicating his support for filing plunder charges against his half-brother.
JV Ejercito supports the administration’s bloody anti-illegal drug campaign and, in 2019, pushed for the restoration of the death penalty for high-level drug trafficking and plunder — the latter a crime for which his father has been convicted and his half-brother is a defendant.
He is also in favor of passing the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression Equality Bill, publicizing the president’s medical reports and legalizing divorce, a reversal of a stance he held just a year prior in 2018. He voted against the Reproductive Health Law when it was still being debated in both the lower and upper chambers of Congress.
JV Ejercito is included in the senatorial slate of Senator Panfilo Lacson’s tandem with Senate President Vicente Sotto III as well as the Senate lineup of Senator Manny Pacquiao. His candidacy was also endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2022.
He has lamented being left out of the senatorial slate of fellow presidential children, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. who is the son and namesake of the late dictator, and his running-mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte who is the incumbent president’s daughter.
“With God’s grace, again it’s destiny, I am offering myself as a public servant. In 18 years, I have a very clean public service record. Maayos naman ang naging performance sa Senado kaya inaalay kong muli ang aking sarili sa sambayanang Pilipino.”
JOSEPH VICTOR “JV” GOMEZ EJERCITO
Full Name: Joseph Victor Gomez Ejercito
Nickname: JV
Birthday: December 26, 1969 (Age 54)
Birthplace: Manila, Metro Manila
Languages Spoken: Filipino, English
Parents:
- Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada (84 years old as of election day), father, former actor and politician, serving as San Juan mayor, senator, vice president and president of the Philippines and, most recently, mayor of the City of Manila
- Guia Gomez (79 years old as of election day), mother, former San Juan City mayor
Spouse: Ma. Hyacinth “Cindy” Lotauco-Ejercito
Siblings:
- Jerika Ejercito, lost Manila city councilor race
- Juan Emilio “Jake” Ejercito, actor
- Jude Ejercito Estrada, Colonel of the Philippine Air Force
- Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, former San Juan mayor and senator
- Jackie Ejercito
- Jason Ejercito
- Jacob Ejercito
- Joma Ejercito
Children:
- Julio Jose Ejercito
- Jose Emilio Ejercito
Profession/Occupation: Businessman
EDUCATION
- AB Political Science, De La Salle University, 1991
WORK EXPERIENCE
- Senator, Senate of the Philippines, 2013-2019
- District Representative of San Juan, House of Representatives, 2010 to 2013
- Mayor, San Juan City; 2001 to 2010
PLATFORM AND POLICY
Improving the healthcare system:
Prioritize the full implementation of the Universal Health Care Act in order to:
- Address bed capacity issues of hospitals and establish specialty hospitals across the country
- Address lack of healthcare workers by providing just compensation, personal protective equipment and allowances
Accessible and affordable education:
- Empower youth through education
Improve transportation:
- Intends to create a comprehensive master plan for infrastructure development meant to act as a blueprint for any incoming administrations and a long-term plan to encourage growth in rural areas
- Supports more investment in biking infrastructure in response to rising price of fuel and integration of features for non-motorized modes of transportation in infrastructure programs, for health-related, economic and environmental benefits
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
As the Kabataan ng Masang Pilipino candidate for the youth sector during the first party-list elections in 1998, Estrada won enough votes to qualify for a seat as a duly elected party-list representative but withdrew from the post due to the controversy over presidential influence to win a favorable resolution from the Commission on Elections.
His political career formally started in San Juan, the bailiwick of the Estrada clan, where he served as mayor from 2001 to 2010.
JV Ejercito was mentioned in the testimony of Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson in the plunder case against former President Estrada and former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, but was not among those charged.
In 2016, he and four other government officials were charged with technical malversation and graft for allegedly diverting the 2008 San Juan City calamity funds worth P2.1 million to purchase high-powered firearms. He was acquitted a year later.
After serving one term as San Juan representative in the lower house, he was elected to the Senate where he served from 2013 to 2019.
JV Ejercito has principally authored over 17 laws, many of which concern healthcare. He was among the principal authors and the principal sponsor of the Universal Health Care Act in 2019. He was also the principal author and principal sponsor of the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, the National Integrated Cancer Control Act and several laws increasing the bed capacities of hospitals across the country.
As a senator, JV Ejercito voted in favor of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act and the Bangsamoro Organic Law but later withdrew his support for both.
He previously urged government economic managers to suspend the TRAIN Act due to its impact on inflation. Ejercito also retracted his authorship for the Bangsamoro Law due to a clash between the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or the Mamasapano clash, but eventually voted for its passage in May 2018.
He also supported the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, including the controversial Oplan Tokhang, and in 2018, reminded the police to heed the new guidelines imposed on its implementation, acknowledging reports of abuses perpetrated in line with the campaign.
In a 2013 Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism report, JV Ejercito was connected to an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands, a privacy and tax haven for those storing ill-gotten wealth acquired through corruption and other means. According to the report, JV Ejercito was the sole director of Ice Bell Properties Limited, the offshore company founded in July 1999 when his father was still in power. Around that time, JV Ejercito was overseeing almost 30 companies. Still, according to PCIJ, Ice Bell Properties remained active until at least Apr. 2, 2013, or throughout Ejercito’s terms as San Juan mayor and representative.
The company was not declared in Ejercito’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth. To address the issue, Ejercito only reiterated that he has truthfully and accurately declared all his assets and liabilities since 2001 and called the release of the report suspicious since he was among the leading contenders among the UNA senatorial candidates.
JV Ejercito would then face graft and technical malversation charges in 2014 in connection to the alleged illegal purchase of submachine guns from the 2008 San Juan calamity funds while he was San Juan mayor. The Sandiganbayan issued a 90-day preventive suspension order in August 2016, which he began to serve in November 2016. The graft charges were dismissed on Dec. 22, 2016 and the technical malversation charge on Aug, 11, 2017 by two separate divisions of the Sandiganbayan.
JV Ejercito is also a Commissioned Reserve Officer of the Philippine Marine Corps, with the rank of major.
BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
AS SENATOR:
Author
- RA 10816: Farm Tourism Development Act
- RA 10845: Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act
- RA 10692: The PAGASA Modernization Act
- RA 10687: Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education Act
- RA 10742: Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act
- RA 10659: Sugarcane Industry Development Act
- RA 10707: Amendments to Probation Law of 1976
- RA 10676: Student-Athletes Protection Act
- RA 11362: Community Service Act
- RA 11332: Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act
- RA 11310: Pantawid Pamilyang Filipino Program (4Ps) Act
- RA 11229: Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act
- RA 11223: Universal Health Care Act
- RA 11215: National Integrated Cancer Control Act
- RA 11199: Social Security Act
- RA 11261: First Time Jobseekers Assistance Act
- RA 11262: Amendments to Tourism Act
- RA 11201: Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act
- RA 11148: Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act
- RA 11035: Balik Scientist Act
- RA 11333: National Museum of the Philippines Act
- RA 10969: Free Irrigation Service Act
- RA 10930: Amendment to Land Transportation and Traffic Code to extend driver’s license validity to five years
- RA 10928: Amendments to Philippine Passport Act
- RA 10931: Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act
- RA 11056: PUP-Sablayan Campus Act
Co-author
- RA 10666: Children’s Safety on Motorcycles Act
- RA 10635: Establishment of the Maritime Industry Authority
- RA 10645: Amendments to Expanded Senior Citizens Act
- RA 10743: National Teachers’ Day
- RA 11457: Charter of the Davao International Airport Authority
- RA 11291: Magna Carta of the Poor
- RA 11364: Cooperative Development Authority Charter
- RA 11371: Murang Kuryente Act
- RA 11314: Student Fare Discount Act
- RA 11228: Amendments to Magna Carta for Persons with Disability
- RA 11232: Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines
AS CONGRESSMAN:
Author
- RA 10606: National Health Insurance Act
- RA 10361: Domestic Workers Act
- RA 10575: The Bureau of Corrections Act
- RA 10623: Amendments to Price Act
- RA 10165: Foster Care Act
Co-author:
- RA 10174: Amendments to Climate Change Act
- RA 10150: Amendments to Electric Power Industry Reform Act
- RA 10607: Insurance Code
- RA 10629: Amendments to National Integrated Protected Areas System Act
- RA 10588: Palarong Pambansa Act
BIOGRAPHY
Joseph Victor G. Ejercito was born on December 26, 1969 in Manila. He is the son of San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez and former President now Manila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada.
He is a proud alumnus of Xavier School where he completed his elementary and secondary education. He earned his college degree of AB Political Science at De La Salle University in 1991. Ejercito first entered the political limelight in 2001 when San Juan residents clamored him to run as mayor. He served as San Juan Mayor for three consecutive terms, from 2001 to 2010.
Under Ejercito’s leadership, San Juan was distinguished for its dynamic local government reform and economic boom with an annual revenue increase of P100 million. From P300 million in 2001, San Juan’s revenue increased to P1.2 billion pesos in 2010. Because of the significant growth, San Juan was converted into a highly urbanized city in June 2007.
Ejercito’s accomplishments as Mayor garnered him several prestigious awards, among them the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award for Public Service and Governance in 2007.
In 2010, Ejercito ran unopposed as Representative for the Lone District of San Juan.
In the 15th Congress, Ejercito was recognized among the 15 Most Outstanding Congressmen. He chaired the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, and became Vice Chairman of the Committees on Labor and Employment, and Local Government.
Ejercito was also distinguished as the 9th Most Prolific Lawmaker in the 15th Congress, having authored 149 House Bills and 18 House Resolutions, one of which was the Kasambahay Bill. He fought for higher state subsidy for the State Universities and Colleges and for the reformation of the Sangguniang Kabataan system.
Ejercito was elected Senator during the May 2013 national elections.
In the 16th Congress, Senator JV Ejercito is seeking to legislate landmark reforms on the local housing, economic affairs, education system, job generation and youth welfare. He has filed 117 Senate Bills and 18 Senate Resolutions. He is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs and the Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement.
Senator Ejercito likes to play golf during his spare time. He is a Commissioned Reserve Officer of the Philippine Marine Corps with the rank of Major and an adopted member of the Philippine Military Academy Class ’88 of Maringal.
Senator JV Ejercito is married to Ma. Hyacinth Lotuaco. He is father to two boys, Julio Jose and Jose Emilio.
