Emilio Ramon Pelayo Ejercito III (; born October 5, 1963), popularly known as E. R. Ejercito, is a Filipino actor and former governor of Laguna from 2010 until his removal in 2014. Prior to his election as governor, he served as mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna, from 2001 until 2010. He is the son of actor George Estregan and the nephew of former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and former Manila Mayor

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...

. In 2025, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

upheld the guilty verdict for Ejercito from the Sandiganbayan for awarding an insurance contract to a company as mayor in 2008 without a public bidding process, thus perpetually disqualifying him from holding office in government.

Early life and education

Born Emilio Ramon Pelayo Ejercito III on October 5, 1963, in

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...

, then a municipality of Rizal province, to actor Jorgé Jesús Marcelo Ejercito (1939–1988) who went by the screen name George Estregan and Ramona Pelayo (1942–2020) from Ibajay, Aklan. He holds residence in Pagsanjan. He studied at La Salle Green Hills for his primary and secondary education. He then studied at the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

for his college education and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Majoring in Advertising and Visual Communications.

Acting career

In 1989, Ejercito began using the screen name George Estregan Jr. and Jorge Estregan, taken after his father's screen name, starring in the film '' Eagle Squad''. He later went on to use Jorge "E. R." Estregan in his later acting career.

Political career

He served as mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna from 2001 until 2010. He then ran for governor in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. On May 27, 2014, the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

unseated Ejercito after alleged overspending during the campaign for the 2013 midterm elections. Three days later, his uncle,

, convinced him to step down. Despite the conviction, he attempted a comeback as governor in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

but lost on both occasions to incumbent Ramil Hernandez. On April 5, 2019, he was convicted and sentenced to 6 to 8 years in prison for graft over an anomalous insurance deal when he was mayor of Pagsanjan in 2008. The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on August 7, 2019, upheld its earlier ruling that also barred Ejercito from holding public office. Despite his conviction and controversial transfer of residency, Ejercito ran for mayor of Calamba in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, but eventually lost to Roseller Rizal. Ejercito ran for mayor of Pagsanjan in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

. However, that same year, the

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

upheld the Sandiganbayan's 2019 graft conviction of Ejercito, affirming his sentence of 6 to 8 years in prison and perpetual disqualification from holding public office. This conviction stemmed from a 2008 incident where Ejercito, then mayor of Pagsanjan, awarded an insurance contract to a company lacking a license from Insurance Commission without public bidding. Despite this, Ejercito was elected mayor that May.

Personal life

Ejercito first married Emma Rose Policarpio, a 1987 Binibining Pilipinas contestant, in July 1987. However, they later got separated. He was later married to actress-politician Maita Sanchez (Girlie Javier-Ejercito in real life) in the 1990s until her death in 2024. They have eight children: Emilio Ramon IV (Eric), John Paul (Jet), Jorge Antonio Genaro (Jerico), Maria Guadalupe (Jhulia), Maria Angelica Victoria (died in 2004), an unnamed child (died in 2010), Juan Diego (Diego), and Maria Gabriela (Gabby). Three of their children also entered politics: Jerico unsuccessfully ran for vice governor of Laguna in

and in

; Jhulia ran unsuccessfully for the Laguna Provincial Board from the 4th district in 2025; and Jet is the councilor-elect of Pagsanjan, having been elected in 2025.

Organizations

*Vice President – Knights of the Altar (1982–1987) Became Altar Boy of 5 years at St. John the Baptist Parish Church, San Juan City *Vice President – Katipunan ng mga Artistang Pilipino sa Pelikula at Telebisyon (KAPPT) or Philippine Cinema & Television Actors Guild, Inc. (1999–2002) *Member – Rotary Club of Pagsanjan, Laguna *Member – Carpa Club of Pagsanjan, Laguna *National Presidential Adviser on Servant Leadership – The Fraternal Order of Eagles – Philippine Eagles (TFOEPE)

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ejercito, E. R. 1963 births Living people 21st-century Filipino male actors Actors from San Juan, Metro Manila Comedians from Laguna (province) E.R. E.R. Filipino actor-politicians Filipino male child actors Filipino male comedians Filipino male film actors Filipino male television actors Filipino Roman Catholics Filipino television personalities GMA Network (company) people Governors of Laguna (province) Male actors from Laguna (province) Mayors of places in Laguna (province) People from Calamba, Laguna Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino politicians Tagalog people University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Visayan people