ER Ejercito to run for governor in 2016

Vows improvement of local govt university, continuing support for UPLB

By GUIEN GARMA

Former Laguna Governor ER Ejercito will be running for the gubernatorial post in the upcoming 2016 elections.

He revealed his next political plan to the media on the sidelines of the Forum on Governance, Transparency, and Social Transformation hosted by UPLB’s Department of Social Sciences.

Ejercito accompanied Vice President Jejomar Binay Tuesday afternoon.

In an interview with the Perspective, he revealed that he will continue the improvements in Laguna University, the provincial government-operated state university.

“For four years, nataas namin ang population from 700 to more than 2,000 students,” he said.

He also added the usage of tablet computers where all of the students’ textbooks are uploaded.

The former governor said that he would also continue augmenting support to the UPLB campus.

Ejercito, or Jorge Estregan in real life, noted that during his term, he donated multicabs at the height of incidents that rocked the UPLB community: the deaths of Given Grace Cebanico and Ray Penaranda in October 2011 and February 2012, respectively.

“UP graduate din ako… halos lahat kami [sa pamilya] ay graduate ng UP Diliman, at yung iba, UPLB. Mga iskolar kami ng bayan. Alam namin ang kagandahan ng ating eskwelahan, naipamulat sa atin ang magandang edukasyon,”

“Pag pinag-uusapan ang University of the Philippines, kahit saan mang UP sa buong Pilipinas, tinutulungan at sinusuportahan namin,” he added.

He also cited his giving of help, whether financial or in kind, to the various organizations, fraternities, and sororities in the University.

On Gov. Hernandez: ‘Ang hirap magsalita’

When asked to assess the administration of current Governor Ramil Hernandez, who replaced Ejercito after his suspension, the former governor simply said, “Ang hirap magsalita, pero ang masasabi ko lang ay I abided by my good governance program.”

He said that when he left the provincial capitol, 35 departments of the provincial government were ISO-certified (International Standards Organization).

“Unfortunately, four months after na tinanggal ako ni [President Benigno S. Aquino III] dahil sa pamumulitika… natanggal ang ISO certification because of bad governance,” he said.

In May 2014, Ejercito was ousted from his gubernatorial post after the Commission on Elections ruled that he violated rules on campaign spending for the 2013 local polls. He was replaced by then vice-governor Hernandez. [P]

Full video of the Perspective’s interview with former governor ER Ejercito will be published here on uplbperspective.wordpress.com within the week.