Loi Ejercito | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ejercito in 1999 | |
| First Lady of the Philippines | |
| In role June 30, 1998 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President | Joseph Estrada |
| Preceded by | Amelita Ramos |
| Succeeded by | José Miguel Arroyo(First Gentleman) |
| Senator of the Philippines | |
| In office June 30, 2001 – June 30, 2007 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Luisa Pimentel y Fernández (1930-06-02)June 2, 1930 (age 95) |
| Party | PMP (2004–present) Independent (2001–2004) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingJinggoy |
| Alma mater | University of Santo Tomas (AA,MD) |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Profession | Psychiatrist |
Luisa Pimentel Ejército–Estrada[1] (Tagalog pronunciation:[pi.mɛnˈtɛlʔɛˌhɛːɾ.sɪˈto]; born June 2, 1930), commonly known asLoi Ejército, is a Filipina politician and physician who last served as aSenator of the Philippines from 2001 to 2007. She is married to formerPhilippinePresidentJoseph Ejercito Estrada, and was the twelfthFirst Spouse of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001. Her son,Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, is an incumbent senator since 2022 and previously from 2004 to 2016.
Ejercito was born Luisa Fernandez Pimentel on June 2, 1930 to Rufino Pimentel and Manuela Fernandez (1907–1994).[2] She grew up and received her primary and secondary education in the town ofIba inZambales. She later pursued higher education atUniversity of Santo Tomas, where she obtained an associate in arts degree from theCollege of Liberal Arts in 1949 and doctor of medicine in 1954. After which, she worked as a professor at the university'sFaculty of Medicine and Surgery and as a physician at theUniversity of Santo Tomas Hospital. She later worked at theNational Center for Mental Health (NCMH), where she became aJunior Resident. There, she met her husband, actorJoseph Estrada.
In 1960, she was a training-fellow at theRoyal Park Hospital inMelbourne,Australia andBallarat Mental Hospital Department. She also served as a Training Fellow at Ararat Mental Hospital in 1961. In 1962, she returned to the Philippines and established the Mental Health Department atDavao General Hospital inDavao City. For fifteen years, starting in 1972, she has also been involved as a volunteer doctor at San Martin de Porres Charity Hospital inSan Juan.[3]
Due to Estrada's extramarital affair withGuia Gomez in the 1960s, Ejercito separated from her husband for 18 years and moved to the United States with their three children.[4][5] She and Estrada were seen reunited again when he ran for senator in 1987.[4]
A psychiatrist by profession, Loi was dubbedFirst Lady ng Masa (First Lady of the Masses)[citation needed] andDoktora ng Masa (Doctor of the Masses) because of her medical and outreach missions during her term.[citation needed]
On October 12, 1999, she received anHonorary Doctorate degree in philosophy fromKyung Hee University.[3]
After her husband was deposed in theSecond EDSA Revolution in January 2001 and replaced by Vice PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo, she ran as a candidate of thePuwersa ng Masa opposition coalition for a seat inSenate. In the days after Estrada and her son Jinggoy were arrested on April 25 for plunder, she was among the politicians who spoke out against the arrest at pro-Estrada rallies that preceded theMay 1 riots nearMalacañang Palace.[6] She won her senate seat after placing 11th overall in the Senate election in May 2001 and served in the12th and the13th Congress, making her the first First Lady to win a seat in the Senate. With the election of her sonJinggoy in2004, they became the first ever mother-and-son as incumbent senators in Philippine Senate history.[7]
During her tenure (2001–2007), she authored 121 bills and 13 resolutions, some of which have already been enacted into law:
Ejercito decided to seek re-election in2007,[8] but she didn't push through with it. At the end of her Senate term, she retired from politics.[9]
In January 2014, letters sent to theDepartment of Agriculture showed that Ejercito allocated herpork barrel to at least two non-governmental organizations linked toJanet Lim-Napoles during her Senate term.[10]
In June 2014, she was named as the personal physician of her sonJinggoy, who was one of the senators implicated and detained for their alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.[11]
On June 2, 2022, coinciding with her 92nd birthday, she released her memoir entitled “Love, Mommyla: My Memories of 9 Decades,” a 104-pager published by her daughter Jackie.[7] Percentage of the sales of the memoir would go to their medical missions.[12]
We [Estrada and Guia Gomez] went out a few times and my wife, Loi, heard about it. My wife and I quarreled about this. In her anger, she left for the States with our three children[...]
| Honorary titles | ||
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| Preceded by | First Lady of the Philippines 1998–2001 | Succeeded byas First Gentleman |
Senatorial history of Loi Ejercito | |||||||||||||||||||||
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