MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile has ruled out any plan to seek higher office and instead hinted at a re-election bid in 2010.

“I don’t want to run for president. I just want to be what I am,” said Enrile at the launch of his two television information advertisements in the Senate on Friday.

Asked if he was interested in running for the second highest post in the land, he said, “I don’t want to be vice president. If I am going to run for vice-president, I may just as well run for president. I don’t want to be the utusan of another.”

Enrile said he would probably just run for re-election since former president Joseph Estrada has included him in the opposition senatorial ticket.

But Enrile clarified that the release of his infomercials have nothing to do with his political plans but merely to educate the public about his long-time advocacy contained in Senate Bill 3282 known as “Electricity Rate Reduction Act of 2009.”

The infomercials, both 30--seconders--would be seen for the first time on TV this Sunday.

The first advertisement entitled “Jenga” will showcase how a reduction in royalty fees on indigenous natural gas will result in significantly lower power generation costs for consumers.

“Power generation cost constitutes the biggest component of our monthly bills. The royalty taxes imposed on locally-sourced natural gas, on the other hand, comprise a significant part of such power generation cost. A reduction in royalty taxes, therefore, will automatically bring down our monthly electrical bills” Enrile said in a statement.

He said this was the “most significant, direct and expeditious way by which the government could show sincerity in its much ballyhooed campaign for lower power rates.”

The senator’s second ad, entitled “Teacher,” highlights the disparity between the royal fees imposed on indigenous natural gas against the significantly lower taxes imposed on both imported coal and oil.

Enrile pointed out that imported coal and oil used for power generation was being taxed no higher than P0.22/kilowatt-hour compared to the P1.79 /kwh royal tax being imposed on natural gas drawn from the Philippine sources and used for the same purpose of generating electricity.

“This disparity has effectively made a local energy resource that is friendlier to the environment, a whole lot more expensive than imported fuel sources that also contribute to the problems of global warming,” he pointed out.

The passage of Senate Bill 3282, Enrile said, would directly result in power cost reduction ranging from P1.34 to P2/kwh for business or industrial users and at least P1/kwh for residential consumers.