MANILA – Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Friday said the 13th spot in the Senate race is a difficult place to be in, as he identified the factors that contributed to his poor showing in the elections.

“Ito ang hindi po pinakamagandang posisyon dahil hindi mo alam kung pasok ka o hindi, mabuti pa yung mababa ka o pasok na pasok ka,” Ejercito told dzMM.

Ejercito, however, hinted that he is not conceding yet, as the Comelec continues to canvass votes for the senatorial elections.

“Kung sakaling makalusot ako para akong nag-topnotcher. Biro mo first time in history dalawang magkapatid sabay,” he said, referring to his brother, former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who also sought to return to the Senate this year.

With 97.9 percent of election returns transmitted in the Commission on Elections’ transparency survey, Ejercito was at 13th place with 14,184,965 votes. He is 226,192 votes behind 12th placer, fellow reelectionist Sen. Nancy Binay.

Ejercito attributed his poor showing in the elections to the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s non-endorsement of his Senate reelection bid.

“Kung ang Iglesia dinala ako, may plus 2 million ako,” he said.

He also blamed Estrada’s decision to make a Senate comeback bid.

“Ako naman kasi ang pananaw ko everything happens for a reason. Kahit maganda ang performance ko, maganda ang track record ko, may mga ganitong factors,” he said.

“What is more important for me, kung sakali man I had to walk away from politics, my integrity is intact,” he added.

Half-brothers JV and Jinggoy have been estranged for a while.

Estrada on Thursday conceded defeat in the senatorial election, but threw shade at his half-brother, as he congratulated Binay.

“You deserve to keep the 12th spot because you have a very big heart for the poor and you are the BETTER person among others. Congratulations my friend,” wrote Estrada, who was at 15th place.