Sen. Joseph Victor 'JV' Ejercito Advocates The Modernization Of Our Railways And Infrastructure For A Better Mass Transport System

SEN. JV (for Joseph Victor) EJERCITO is personally concerned about the sad plight of the local film industry where most home grown movies flop at the theaters nowadays. “Siempre, dyan nagsimula ang aming ama (current Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada), diyan siya nakilala, kaya handa akong suportahan ang ating local film industry,” he says.

“I’m always willing na suportahan kung anuman ang mga hakbang na gagawin ng legislators nating nasa showbiz din, like Senate Pres. Tito Sotto at ang maraming members of congress na galing sa pag-aartista, led by Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos. Kung kailangang babaan ang buwis sa film producers at ang bayad ng mga tao sa sinehan, dapat, gawin natin yan para mapabalik ang moviegoers sa panonood ng sine. Sana, mabuhay muli ang industriya ng pelikula rito sa atin kasi nakakalungkot naman kung mawala ito gayong part ito ng ating kultura all these years.”

Sen. JV is glad with the recent approval of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law that he supported. “The UHC is one of the reasons I fought for the restoration of almost P16 billion funds for the health facilities enhancement program in the 2019 budget. It makes medical consultation and many basic laboratory tests affordable and accessible. Dito sa atin, bawal magkasakit dahil mahal ang gastos. Under the UHC Law, mas abot-kaya na ang pagpapagamot dahil kahati na ang gobyerno sa mga gastusin. Makakatulong din ito sa movie workers na hindi miembro ng MOWELFUND kaya importanteng magkaroon tayo ng health card.”

Sen. JV is so busy campaigning in various parts of the country and he is happy that people give him warm acceptance wherever he goes. One of his advocacies is to push for a more extensive use of trains in our country as our primary means of mass transportation.

“We need to develop and modernize our infrastructure for the Philippine National Railways,” he adds. “This will foster growth and progress in the provinces. Right now, we are in a crisis situation when it comes to our transportation system at infrastructure development at diyan tayo napag-iwanan nang husto ng mga katabi nating Asian countries with their now modernized railways systems.

"E, tayo, our population is growing steadily. 106 million na tayong mga Pinoy, at ang mga sasakyan, padami nang padami, so lalong nagsisisiksikan lalo rito sa Metro-Manila. Only train systems all over the country can be the best solution for our transport problems and I promise to devote all my attention to the approval of legislation on this once I get re-elected in the senate.”

Sen. JV will be 50 years old on December 26. He is married to Ma. Hyacinth Lotuaco and has two sons, Jose Emilio and Julio Jose. He started his career in public administration as mayor of San Juan in 1991 when he was only 32 years old. He then became a congressman before being elected into the senate, so you can say he’s really a seasoned public servant. He is currently vice chairman of the House Committee on Local Government.