MANILA – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon announced he would exit politics next year, the time he finishes his second consecutive six-year term in the Senate.
“I have been in the service probably for 30 years…I think I have given a good part of my life to public service,” the Ilonggo senator said in an online forum recently. “I will retire from public service if I have no role in the coming administration.”
The 75-year-old Drilon ruled out running for any elective position, including in his hometown Iloilo City, in the upcoming national elections.
“I am proud I have contributed to the wellbeing of the country,” Drilon said.
According to Drilon, becoming Liberal Party’s (LP) standard bearer for the 2022 polls should Vice President Leni Robredo decline to run for presidency never crossed his mind.
“I have not planned to run for president in 2022. I do not have the resources to run for president,” the Senate minority leader said. “Give others a chance.”
What’s next for Drilon?
“I want to be a researcher to media organizations I respect,” Drilon said.
Drilon was born and raised in Iloilo City and studied law at the University of the Philippines. He placed third in the 1969 Bar Exams and worked as a private practice lawyer prior to joining the government.
Drilon began his public service career in 1986 as secretary for the Department of Labor and Employment. He was also appointed as Department of Justice secretary under the administrations of Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos.
Drilon eventually ran for senator in the 1990s, and was named as Senate President from 2000 to 2006 and from 2013 to 2016. He is the only senator to serve in all four major leadership positions of the Senate.
A member of the LP since 2003, Drilon has been the party’s vice chairman since 2011 and has previously served as the party’s chairman and president./PN
