PLDT Chairman denies he's running in 2010
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 05/04/2009 4:27 PM
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PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan doused Monday rumors that he is planning to run for president in the 2010 elections.
In a text message to reporters, Pangilinan said he is not running for any political office next year. "No, I am not running for any political office. I am truly at home running a business," he said.
Talk of Pangilinan's alleged political ambitions became louder over the weekend after a series of "Ako Mismo (I Myself)" TV ads aired during the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight. The Ako Mismo ad, which is supported by the PLDT-SMART Foundation, showed celebrities, musicians and ordinary citizens talking about the need for change in the country and why this change must start with the individual first.
Pangilinan, who is not in the ad, said PLDT-SMART Foundation assists the Ako Mismo campaign as an "apolitical, cause-oriented, socially-beneficial project."
"As I understand it, Ako Mismo is a movement that wishes to awaken and spread the Filipino's sense of responsibility as an individual. Our legacy reliance on community, government, and family must, at this time, at this opportunity, be balanced by strong personal accountability," he said.
"It is a principle I happen to believe in, as must millions of OFW's who left home and fend for themselves," he added.
He said he recused himself from the Ako Mismo project "precisely to wash away any political color from it."
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