MANILA, Philippines ? Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio is prepared to give up his priesthood to be able to run for president in 2010.

?I have come to that point that I feel ready to seek dispensation from the Church,? Panlilio told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview Friday. ?That is, if the people will really want me and I feel that running for president is something that [God] has planned for me.?

Kilos Na!, a political organization that seeks to win Panlilio the presidency on the promise of change and an end to graft and corruption, will be officially launched Saturday morning at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City.

It was Panlilio?s biggest supporters, including fellow champions of the Kaya Natin! Movement for ethical leadership and good governance, who formed Kilos Na! in order to actively campaign for him and other alternative candidates for good governance.

The governor has until November to file a certificate of candidacy for president.

Willing sacrifice

Panlilio, who is officially on leave from the Roman Catholic Church and barred from performing priestly duties, said he offered himself as an alternative candidate for the presidency as early as Easter Sunday, and that he was heartened by the expressions of support that continued to come his way.

He has been told by his superiors in the Church that should he pursue a higher political position, he would have to leave the priesthood.

?In 2007, I ran for governor in response to the need for an alternative candidate. It is the same now. There is a need, and I am prepared to do whatever it takes in the context of helping our suffering country,? Panlilio said, adding:

?I am willing to offer myself as a sacrifice in the best way that I can. If running for president is what it will take, then so be it.?

Panlilio said he was ?very surprised? by the Supreme Court order for the Commission on Elections to recount the votes in the 2007 gubernatorial race in Pampanga.

He noted that it took the tribunal a long time to decide on his petition to stop the recount, and that there were only 10 months left before the 2010 elections.

?I am also surprised because the protagonist, Mrs. Lilia Pineda, has already indicated that she would run for mayor of Lubao,? he said.

Reform candidates

Ifugao Gov. Teodoro B. Baguilat Jr., lead convenor of Kilos Na! and a fellow champion of the Kaya Natin! Movement, said there were plans to eventually register Kilos Na! as a political party that would hopefully put more ethical leaders in power.

?I am tired of supporting candidates who turn out to be just like traditional politicians engaged in patronage politics and involved in graft and corruption,? Baguilat said.

?What I want to see are reform candidates like Among (Father) Ed, who would really be able to stop graft and corruption, which to my mind is the root of all the problems of the Philippines,? he said.