The Commission on Election en banc ordered Laguna Governor ER Ejercito to step down from his official function as head of the Province of Laguna after the COMELEC in back upheld its First Divion’s decision to disqualify him for campaign overspending.
The unanimous decision of the COMELEC was released on Wednesday, May 21, 2014. According to COMELEC Commissioner Sixto Brillantes Jr., the Comelec in banc promulgated and affirmed its First Division’s earlier decision to disqualify the Governor after he was found to have overspent his gubernatorial campaign in 2013.
The actor and Governor of Laguna, ER Ejercito has one legal remedy left according to Comelec, which is to elevate his case to the Supreme Court of the Philippines to seek Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the decision of the commission.
The Comelec’s order to Gov. Ejercito to step down as Governor of Laguna would be “executory within 5 days if no TRO from the Supreme Court,” is issued. The decision of the poll body would pave the way way for Vice Governor Ramil Hernandez to assume the gubernatorial seat in the Province of Laguna.
According to the previous decision of Comelec’s First Division, the Governor was found to have spent P6 million in TV advertisement alone when he ran for a second term in the 2013 election, which is more than P4.5-million limit set by law.
