Lacson no longer running for president in 2016

Senator Ping Lacson says his focus will be on returning to the Senate in 2016. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson will no longer seek the presidency in 2016 as he disclosed his plan to file his certificate of candidacy (COC) for the Senate on Monday, October 5.

“I’m filing for the Senate on Monday,” Lacson said in a text message Wednesday.

“I will try to be the first to file, if possible. I will file as an independent,” he said.

READ: Lacson says he is open to run for president | Ping on 2016: ‘Count me among the undecided’

Lacson said the three frontrunners in the pre-election surveys have offered him to either adopt or include him their senatorial slates, apparently, referring to Senator Grace Poe, who topped the latest presidential surveys, Vice President Jejomar Binay, and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Asked if he accepted the offer of the three frontrunners, Lacson said: “I agreed to the two because the principals personally offered. The third one coursed it through an emissary so I did not commit.”

The former senator did not name the two candidates who personally made the offer.

Lacson earlier said that he was open to run for president next year if his rating in the surveys would improve.

While he was ranking high in the senatorial survey, he noted in his earlier statement that “the same amount of support and approval do not seem to resonate in the presidential survey.”