The long suffering of actress-politician Maita Sanchez, aka Girlie Maita Javier-Ejercito

The medical condition of actress and politician Maita Sanchez (also known as Girlie Maita Javier-Ejercito, the former mayor and vice-mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna), might not be publicized before her death but she was privately taken cared by her husband, ER Ejercito who knew the best way to keep her sane and prolonged her life.

“Pero gano’n talaga. ‘Yon ang gusto ng Diyos (That’s the way it is. That was what the Lord wanted),” exclaimed ER in our exclusive interview beside Maita’s coffin perched in one corner of the 1912 Don Porong Ejercito mansion in Pagsanjan.

According to Ejercito, it was in 2017 that his wife complained of pain in her chest so he got her to a doctor and it was found out she had breast cancer.

The actor and former governor of Laguna Province from 2010 to 2014 said that the cause of Maita’s illness was stress-related. “Noon kasing 2014 na maalis ako sa puwesto sa panahon ni president Noynoy Aquino, dinamdam ni Maita ‘yon. Na-stress siya nang sobra. ‘Yon ang sabi ng doktor, nagkasakit siya nang dahil sa stress. Kasi, sa pamilya niya, walang may kanser (In 2014 when I was removed from office during the time of president Noynoy Aquino, Maita took it seriously. She was very stressed. Her doctor said that she became sick because of stress. In her family, no one has been diagnosed with cancer),” said ER.

At the time, Maita was the mayor of Pagsanjan since 2010 so after she went successfully under the knife, she went back to office.

For years, though, she became the president of League of Municipalities in the Philippines (LMP) Laguna Chapter.

Along the way, the Ejercitos without them knowing it the cancer cells were already spreading like wildfire inside Maita’s body.

In 2023, Maita, with ER in tow, was going in and out of St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) in Quezon City for a series of medical tests after she complained of pains all over her body.

It was found out that the cancer had recurred and its cells had metastasized in various parts of Maita’s body.

“Kumalat na ang cancer cells sa kanyang uterus at sa iba’t ibang parte ng kanyang katawan. May nakitang napakalaking bukol. Kaya, kailangan na naman niyang maoperahan (The cancer cells had spread to her uterus and other parts of her body. A tumor was found in it. Thus, another operation was needed).

“Kaya 2023 at 2024, labas-pasok kami sa ospital. Awang-awa na ako kay Maita (In 2023 and 2024, we were in and out of the hospital. I pitied Maita so much),” teary-eyed lamented the actor-politician.  

“Tapos, sa bituka naman nagkaroon ng mga bukol. Kumalat na naman ‘yong cancer cells. Marami nang bukol sa kanyang bituka. Pag kumakain siya, hindi na ‘yon tutuloy sa kanyang bituka, isusuka na niya (Then, she had tumors in the intestines. Cancer cells spread there as well. If she ate something, it didn’t reach her stomach, she would throw it up),” recalled ER sadly.

Pain was no match to Sanchez on the outside as she fought her battle with the Big C because last June, she was still up and about to attend the graduation rites of her eldest daughter Maria Guadalupe, better known as Jhulia who according to her dad was proclaimed cum laude by the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue. Maita even had a glee in jumping spree during the commencement exercises’ photo of the family.

“Pati sa graduation ng anak naming bunsong lalaki, si Diego, nakapunta rin siya (Even on the graduation of out youngest son Diego, she was able to witness it),” ER proudly beamed.

Last July was the most crucial in the agony of the Ejercito clan.

“Mula July, naka-confine na si Maita. Apat na buwan. Then, no’ng November 1, 2024, nasa sementeryo ako ng Pagsanjan. Namigay ako ng sandwich at saka tubig sa mga kababayan ko. Naka-turn ‘yon sa Facebook Live si Maita sa ginagawa ko at napanood pa niya kahit nahihirapan siyang huminga (From July, she was already confined at St. Luke’s. Four months. Then on All Saints Day, I was in the Pagsanjan cemetery. I gave away sandwiches and bottles of water to my townmates. Maita’s watching my Facebook Live what I was doing at the cemetery even if it was difficult for her to breathe),” he recounted.

The next day, Maita’s immediate family was at her sickbed. “Nasa tabi niya kaming lahat. Tapos, mumulat siya bigla. Akala namin, matatagalan siya sa pagmulat. ‘Yon pala, ‘yon na ‘yong huli niyang hininga. Bigla na lang (We were all beside her. Then, she opened her eyes abruptly. We thought her eyes wide open would linger for long.  It was, finally, her last breath. All of a sudden, she’s gone…,” ER said, his voice cracked.

“Maita, my beautiful and lovely wife, is gone. I love her so much,” he added.

“Masakit pero alam kong malaya na si Maita sa kanyang pagdurusa (It’s painful but I know she is relieved of her suffering),” quipped ER, wiping away his tears silently.

May memories of Maita

In the late 1980s, I was privy to ER (Emilio Ramon) Ejercito when he was barely starting his professional acting career as an action star.

Although he could easily bank on his family’s legacy (from former president and actor Joseph Estrada, his uncle; to George Estregan, his dad; to Jinggoy Estrada, his first cousin, not to mention Gary Estrada, his half-brother who just began showbiz work years later) ER simply showed his unique identity as an individual star, a character actor who mostly played boorish and bullyish villain.

Meanwhile, in his personal life, ER in the early 1990s was already separated from his first wife, beauty queen Emma Rose Policarpio, a 1987 Binibining Pilipinas finalist.

During that time, the actor has already fallen for Maita Sanchez, virtual leading lady of action stars like Jess Lapid, Jr. in “Sa Dulo ng Baril” (1987); Dan Alvaro in “Ka Leon, Ex-Rebel” (1989); Miguel Rodriguez in “Hindi Kita Iiwang Buhay” (1990), among others.

ER and Maita were co-stars in several movies where love on the sets, initially and later off-cam, developed particularly in their team-up in “Asiong Salonga,” a remake of his uncle Erap’s original biopic on the underworld character.

Maita played the paramour of Asiong. “It was a coincidence that her role was also the role of my aunt Guia Gomez in the original version. It was also coincidence that my aunt and Maita had started their mayorship of San Juan City and Pagsanjan at the same time, respectively. Numeric 2 and month of April are common birthday features, Aunt Guia was born April 20 while Maita was April 2. Another coincidence was that they were both from Silay City in Negros Occidental,” gushed ER.

ER and Maita started their life together in a simple apartment in Project 7 where I used to hang around.

Jet and Jerico were still kids at the time.

Maita was indeed a homemaker and an ideal wife because it was ER who just worked for his family.

Years passed and ER entered politics as mayor of Pagsanjan, Laguna where he won in 2001 and served his nine-year term until 2010 when he ran, campaigned and duly elected for governor of the province.

During his tenure as mayor of Pagsanjan, Maita was the unassuming first lady. She was just most of the time in the background, doing the best for her hubby.

Until her last breath, Sanchez loved ER so dearly.

The amiable actress and politician was cremated and inurned yesterday at Arlington Memorial Chapels.

She was 55.