Jake Ejercito clarifies photo with Rodrigo Duterte standee

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January 20, 2026 | 12:55pm

Manila, Philippines — While most 2016 throwback photos drew nostalgia, actor Jake Ejercito's elicited mixed reactions because of his selfie with the standee of former president Rodrigo Duterte.  

Jake joined the social media trend where users posted their photos from 10 years ago. 

"Is it too late now to say sorry 2016," he captioned his post on Facebook, where he posted over 30 photos of him taken a decade ago. 

Two of the photos showed Jake with a standee of Duterte. These drew most of the reactions, leading the actor to reply to one of the comments. 

"To clarify, I didn’t campaign or vote for FPRRD," Jake wrote. 

Jake said that he voted for Grace Poe at that time. Duterte and Poe were up against other 2016 presidentiables, namely, Mar Roxas, Jejomar Binay, and the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who died months after in September at 71 years old. 

"It was my 1st time to vote for prez and I don't regret having chosen @SenGracePOE. So much respect for fighting the good fight till the end!" Jake tweeted in 2016. 

Jake supported the tandem of Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan during the 2022 presidential elections. 

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