THAT was decidedly an unprovoked challenge when Senator Manuel Villar raised the issue of financing a presidential campaign.

In an interview with Reuters the other day, he said that while a lot of those aspiring for the presidency are expected to announce their candidacies sooner than later, in the end only a few of them would push through with their official nominations.

He did not say it, but obviously most of those who appear to be serious with their aspirations, at least to his knowledge, do not have the most vital requirement to mount an optimistic presidential campaign.

"If you can’t even raise one billion pesos," he advised the suspected aspirants, "why even run?"

It is estimated that to run a convincing presidential campaign, it needs at least P2 to P3 billion, and the estimate, we are told, is very conservative under present circumstances.

As of today, some names have already emerged as aspirants for the No.1 position in government as the 2010 polls get nearer.

They include aside from Villar who is president of the Nacionalista Party, Senator Manuel A. Roxas, president of the Liberal Party, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Vice President Noli de Castro, Senator Ping Lacson, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, and not the least MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando who has been campaigning since last year as evidenced by the widespread public distribution of his posters in and outside of the metropolitan Manila area.

Former President Joseph Estrada’s name has also been mentioned except that question about his eligibility persists and may need further judicial interpretation.

Who are those whom Villar is advising not to run if they cannot raise "even one billion pesos?"

Certainly not Roxas or Teodoro who are known to be backed up by their families’ resources probably more than his reported P48 billion real estate firm assets.

And not Binay or Lacson either.

In the case of Fernando he probably thinks he has no need of such gargantuan amount to be at the top of the league come election time. What are those posters for?

But money is not all.

Villar said he was seeking the presidency because of his desire to use the lessons he learned while running his multi-billion business.

As everybody knows by now, Villar emerged from poverty through what he himself calls, "sipag at tiaga." He became a millionaire at 26.

But recently he was toppled from his post as Senate president after he got entangled with the controversial insertion of additional P200 million for a "road extension project in a budget bill, from which his companies benefited."

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)