Girlie Javier Ejercito (born Girlie Yulatic Javier, April 2, 1969 – November 3, 2024), known professionally as Maita Sanchez, was a Filipino politician and actress. She served as the mayor of

Pagsanjan Pagsanjan (pronounced ''PAG-sang-han''), officially the Municipality of Pagsanjan (), is a municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,327 people. Pagsanjan is the tourist capi ...

, Laguna, for nine years, from 2010 until 2019.

Career

Javier-Ejercito was involved in the entertainment industry before switching to politics. She had an acting career under the name Maita Sanchez. Her political career began with her election as mayor of Pagsanjan, a position she held for nine years until 2019. In the 2010 elections, she successfully ran for mayor of

, Laguna, succeeding her term-limited husband E. R. Ejercito, who successfully ran for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Laguna. She entered the political scene as part of a broader trend of celebrities seeking local and national government positions. In 2013, Javier-Ejercito faced scrutiny from the

COMELEC COMELEC or Comelec may refer to any of the following: * Commission on Elections (Philippines) The Commission on Elections (), abbreviated as , is one of the three Constitutional Commission#Philippines, constitutional commissions of the Phili ...

regarding her campaign expenditures during her bid for a second term as mayor of Pagsanjan. The campaign spending limit for mayoralty candidates in Pagsanjan, based on its voting population of 22,584, was set at . Her Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) revealed that she spent a total of during her campaign, exceeding the legal spending cap by . Following her term as mayor, she was elected vice mayor of Pagsanjan in May 2019. In the May 2022 elections, she announced her candidacy for mayor of Pagsanjan once again and subsequently lost. According to her husband, E. R. Ejercito, she was supposed to run for vice mayor of Pagsanjan in 2025, but did not file her candidacy while hospitalized due to

endometrial cancer Endometrial cancer is a cancer that arises from the endometrium (the epithelium, lining of the uterus or womb). It is the result of the abnormal growth of cells (biology), cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. The first s ...

Personal life

Javier-Ejercito was the second wife of former Laguna Governor, E. R. Ejercito. She experienced multiple miscarriages. 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

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 ...

and 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 ...

; Jhulia ran unsuccessfully for the Laguna Provincial Board from the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

in 2025; and Jet is the councilor-elect of Pagsanjan, having been elected in 2025.

Illness and death

In 2015, Javier-Ejercito was diagnosed with stage 2

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

, which doctors at St. Luke's Medical Center – Quezon City attributed it primarily to stress, as she had no family history of cancer. According to her husband, E. R. Ejercito, her condition may have been triggered by stress after he was unseated as Laguna governor in 2014 due to alleged overspending during the campaign for the 2013 midterm elections. She underwent treatment in 2017 and was declared cancer-free. However, she was later diagnosed with stage 4

in 2023, which Ejercito believed was exacerbated by the stress caused by her unsuccessful 2022 run for Pagsanjan mayor. She was confined multiple times since then, with her final confinement beginning in July 2024. She died at St. Luke's Medical Center – Quezon City, on November 3, 2024 at 12:01 am PHT, at the age of 55. Her wake was held at their residence, the Don Porong Ejercito 1912 Ancestral Mansion, in

from November 3 to 9, followed by a funeral procession in the town and funeral Mass at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church on November 9. Her remains were cremated at the Arlington Memorial Chapels in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

on November 10.

Filmography

References

External links

* as Maita Ejercito. * as Maita Sanchez.
Metro Society Magazine - December 2012 - Feature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Maita 1969 births 2024 deaths Filipino actor-politicians Mayors of places in Laguna (province) Filipino television personalities Filipino film actresses Deaths from cancer in the Philippines Deaths from endometrial cancer Partido Federal ng Pilipinas politicians United Nationalist Alliance politicians Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino politicians