MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Former public works secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. formally declared, on Sunday, his intention to run for President in 2010 under the banner of the Lapiang Manggagawa party (renamed Philippine Labor and Peasant Party).

Ebdane said that, with his four decades of serving in government, it would be a “sin of omission” if he did not run for President and that he has already sought the endorsement of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

“I fight to win so there’s no turning back. I have crossed the bridge. I have no intention of going back,” Ebdane said after accepting his nomination during the Lapiang Manggawa (LM) national convention at the Manila Hotel.

“In my four decades in public service, where service 24/7 is the key to getting the job done, I realized that although I have helped to do much for our country, there is much more than needs to be done,” he said.

“And with my accumulated experience and know-how, I believe I stand as the candidate with the first-hand working knowledge of how government really works and the track record to get things done,” he added.

Ebdane denied insinuations from some sectors that he was a stealth candidate of the administration out to destabilize the 2010 elections.

“You know, they are dreaming. They are having a nightmare. They should wake up. Their colleagues should wake them up,” he said.

When asked about reports that Ramos was behind his candidacy, Ebdane said he had informed the former President of his intention to run and was hoping for his endorsement.

“With all due respect, let us give respect to the person. Everyone goes to him. I told him I was running. I was his aide since 1972 and he has helped me so much,” he said.

“There is still no endorsement (from Ramos but) I hope and pray…we need that endorsement because he is credible,” he added.

Ebdane, the new LM chair, said he did not have all the funds but added that he already had three nationwide organizations working for his candidacy “from the national to the barangay level.”

“I know for myself that I have many organizations working for me. I don’t know about the others. They might have the political party but I don’t know if they have the organization. In our long service in government, we have gained many friends,” Ebdane said, adding that LM was a registered party with the Commission on Elections.

LM president Jose Malvar Villegas said the group was also active in the formation of Lakas-Tao, Ramos’ political party, in the early1990s before it eventually morphed into the ruling Lakas-National Union of Christian Democrats coalition during the Ramos administration.

“For every peso that (other candidates) will spend, I will only spend 10 to 25 centavos because my organizations are already in place. They have the provisions for deployment, accommodation, transportation, the crowd, so there’s no need for hakot power,” he added.

When asked if the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or the Philippine National Police (PNP) was behind him, Ebdane said: “What I can say is they cannot use the PNP against me because the PNP loves me.”

“Even the AFP because they’re my friends. Practically everyone…the DND (Department of Defense(, DILG (Department of Interior and Local Governments), DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), Labor. I have no enemies,” said the former PNP chief and Philippine Military Academy graduate.

However, Ebdane said the party chieftains of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition pushed him to leave the Cabinet, not President Macapagal-Arroyo.

“There was no issue between me and my President. It was not the President who wanted me to leave but members of the administration party,” Ebdane said.

“If they do not want you any longer, why would you stay? So, I requested the President, she let me go. You can see if members of the family no longer want you, not necessarily your mother but the others on the side,” he said.

“In politics, you can’t agree all the time… I cannot be a member of the administration party because that’s closed already,” he added.

Nevertheless, according to Ebdane, he and “Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, the administration standard-bearer, remain friends.

“We are friends and I respect him. I admire him and he also respects and admires me. When we speak to each other, he still calls me `Sir.’ We are like brothers,” Ebdane said.

Ebdane also noted that he had also “looked after” Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, when he served with the Presidential Security Group during the time of the late President Corazon Aquino.

However, Ebdane said he felt that he was the “strongest” candidate among those who have announced their intention to run for President.

“I will win. I fight to win. Some people are trying to portray themselves as immaculately white, but no one has the moral ascendancy to say that they are clean. Nobody can say that,“ he said.

He added that he has not registered in the popularity surveys because he had only announced his intention to run recently.

He added in jest that even if the presidential bets engaged in a fun run, he would still win.

“I’m the only non-politician among them and I don’t intend to be a politician all my life. If we get lucky in 2010, and we will get lucky in 2010, I’ll serve until 2016. After that, I will let the next generation to take over,” Ebdane said.

He said he already had a “credible” male vice-presidential candidate whose identity he would announce later. He said his party would also field a full Senate slate.

“Just wait for the next chapter. When we announce something, we only do it once and not `one step forward, one step backward,’” Ebdane said.

Before going to the Manila Hotel, Ebdane laid a wreath at the monument of revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio at the Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila. The police put the crowd of LM members present at around 200.