Ilonggo Senator Franklin Drilon on Wednesday, June 30, said he is thinking of retiring from politics in 2022.

“I will retire from public service if I have no role in the coming administration. You know, I have been in the service probably for 30 years,” the veteran lawmaker said in an online forum.

“I think I have given a good part of my life to public service. I am proud, I have contributed to the well-being of the country. Give others a chance,” he added.

Drilon’s second consecutive six-year term in the Senate will end next year.

The senator, who currently serves as vice chairman of the Liberal Party, said he is not interested to run for a higher post in the 2022 elections.

“I have not planned to run for president. I don’t have the resources to run for president.”

Drilon first entered the Senate in 1995 and he became Senate President from 2000 to 2006, and from 2013 to 2016.

Prior to his stint as senator, Drilon was appointed as secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the administrations of Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos.IMT