The Estrada, Ejercito sibling rivalry for the Senate

Some learned psychologists advanced the theory that there is really a natural rivalry between two or more brothers. Indeed, brothers would really vie for more attention from the father. More attention means more love, affection, bigger allowance, and perks. And this intense rivalry is even made more complicated when they have different mothers. Well, between former senator, Loi Estrada and former San Juan city mayor, Guia Gomez, there is no love lost. And their rivalry seems to extend to their respective sons, Jinggoy and JV.

This coming senatorial election, Jinggoy and JV will run for the same position again. Let’s examine the lives and characters of these two rival siblings. Jinggoy (Jose Pimentel Ejercito Jr.) was born on February 17, 1963. He was vice mayor of San Juan from 1988 to 1992, He was elected mayor in 1992 and held office until 2001. He was elected senator in 2007 and was Senate president pro tempore up to 2013 and acting Senate president from June 5 to June 30, 2013. He was indicted in 2014 in the infamous Napoles case along with Bong Revilla and Enrile. He was detained in 2016 but acquitted. He ran for the Senate in 2019 and lost, placing 15th, lower than JV at 13th.

JV (Jose Victor Gomez Ejercito) who used to go by the name "The Good One" or "The Better Estrada" was born on December 26, 1969. In 2001, JV was elected San Juan mayor and he served until 2010. He was congressman from 2010 to 2013, and senator from 2013 to 2019. He was a hardworking senator, claiming credit as the author of the Universal Health Care Law, which he did fight for as chairman of the Senate's health committee. He also authored 140 bills and resolutions, surpassing the record of his older half-brother. In 2016, the same year Jinggoy was detained, JV was also ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan in connection with alleged fund misuse when he was mayor. He was, however, exonerated. So the two brothers even have parallel legal problems. And in the 2019 senate elections, JV lost too.

JV is married to Hyacinth Lotuaco and they have a son, Julio Jose. He has an older son, Jose Emilio. JV used to be a car racer and is also a commissioned reserve officer of the Philippine Marine Corps. Jinggoy is married to Precy Vitug and their children are Janella, Joseph Luis Manuel, Julian Emilio, and Julienne. Janella served as vice mayor of San Juan from 2016 to 2019. Jinggoy finished his elementary and high school in Ateneo, and obtained a degree in AB Economics from UP. He finished Law in Lyceum but didn’t become a lawyer. JV finished his elementary and high school in Xavier School and obtained a degree in AB, Political Science from Dela Salle University.

In the 2019 Senate elections, Cynthia Villar topped the race, with 25,283,727 votes. Number 12 was Nancy Binay with 14,504,936 votes, JV was number 13 and got 14,313,727 (a difference of 191,209). Jinggoy got the 15th slot with 11,359,305. JV, the younger, got 2,954,422 more votes. JV ran under the banner of NPC while Jinggoy was with PMP. When Binay and JV were fighting for the last slot, Jinggoy said he was wished Binay would win. JV retorted that Jinggoy got the 13th slot in his own hometown. But in the end, both of them lost.

In 2022, I think that one of them will win, and it will not be Jinggoy. If they keep on hitting each other though, there is a real danger that it will be lose-lose for both of them. Erap should call his two sons in executive session, minus Loi and Guia, and tell them to shut up and campaign together as true brothers. If you guys can’t even understand each other, why should we give you our support?