Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson announced that he was withdrawing from the 2010 presidential race. His reason for such action was the huge expenses of waging a campaign.
“The time has come to face the reality that the intent to lead in this land in order to do good has become an enterprise only to those who have access to unlimited funds. I bow to that reality,” Lacson said. This was why he did not attend Friday night’s televised Leadership Forum among prospective presidential candidates.
Lacson said he could have accepted the P200-million pork barrel allocated each senator every year so he could match the resources of well-moneyed candidates, but he chose not to for integrity’s sake.
The presidential hopefuls who appeared at the forum-former President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Loren Legarda, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando.
