- The Comelec rules that ex-Laguna governor ER Ejercito may run again for office
- The polling body says that Ejercito is not yet convicted in the case filed against him
- The agency also says that former police officer Abner Afuang has no legal authority to file a disqualification case against Ejercito
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has announced that dismissed Laguna governor Emilio Ramon “ER” Ejercito may run again for public office in the upcoming elections since there is no final decision yet on the campaign overspending case filed against him.
In an article written by Jerome Aning for Philippine Daily Inquirer on February 24, it was disclosed that the polling body has issued a resolution that dismisses the disqualification case filed by former police officer Abner Afuang against Ejercito.
According to the Comelec, the agency has “removed him (Ejercito) from office only for the term covering the period 2013-2016 and does not prevent him from filing a certificate of candidacy for the same office.”
The Comelec has also added that Afuang, who once served as the mayor of Pagsanjan, has no legal authority to file a disqualification case against Ejercito since the former is not a gubernatorial candidate in the May 2016 elections.
“Even after determining the true nature of the case, this case is dismissed on the merits,” Commissioner Christian Robert Lim of the Comelec’s First Division said.
Ejercito, who is currently running for governor under the slate of Vice President and United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) standard bearer Jejomar Binay, was ousted from his gubernatorial position on May 27, 2014, after the Comelec found out that he exceeded the allowable limits for campaign spending during the 2013 elections.
Three days later, Ejercito stepped down from office after his uncle, former president and now Manila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, convinced him to respect the polling body’s decision.
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