Drilon to retire from public service if no post will be given to him in next admin

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday said he has no plans to run for presidency and he plans to retire from public service if there is no appointive position given to him in the next administration.

“I will retire from public service if I have no role in the coming administration. You know, I have been in the service probably for 30 years,” he said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

“I think I have given a good part of my life to public service. I am proud, I have contributed to the well-being of the country. Give others a chance,” he added.

Asked whether he wanted to be nominated by the opposition coalition, 1Sambayan, as their possible presidential candidate in the 2022 polls, Drilon said he is not interested to run for President.

“I don’t want the nomination. Maybe, I leave that to their judgment, I do not speak for them. I have not planned to run for President. I do not have the resources to run for President,” he said.

Drilon is currently serving his second term as senator after being elected in the Senate during the 2010 and 2016 polls.

Under the Constitution, a senator’s term of office runs for six years and they are only allowed to run for two consecutive terms.

His first 12 years in the Senate ran from 1995 to 2007. He was reelected to the Senate in 2010.

During his stint in the Upper Chamber, Drilon served thrice as Senate president.

Prior to his career in the Legislative Department, he served as secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Justice.

He also served as the Executive Secretary during the administration of the late former President Corazon Aquino. —KG, GMA News