There is no turning back for former Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. and taunts by Lakas-Kampi operatives won’t deter him from a serious bid to win the presidency next year.

Ebdane told newsmen at the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt in Quezon City that he is confident that by working tirelessly, he could not say that he is not irrelevant, as pointed out by Kampi deputy secretary general Reginald Velasco in the same forum last week.

“Politics is dirty but you don’t win any position by mere announcements but by votes,” Ebdane stressed. “It is not in my character to throw garbage back.”

Ebdane is backed by the Lapiang Manggagawa (LM) and by a number of Muslim groups.

Asked how he would secure the votes to make a credible showing, he explained that he had been visiting so many places in the country and venturing deeper into Mindanao and other insurgency-wracked areas to know the pulse of the electorate.

No other potential presidential candidate has done this on a regular basis, he said.

“It doesn’t mean that if you have funds, organization and other resources you are already assured of victory. Remember that things would clear up come March and April 2010 and many politicians would switch sides just as they are switching sides now,” he added.

“I have been in government for a long time and I know how to read people’s minds and how political parties perform,” Ebdane emphasized.

In contrast to the Lakas-Kampi which said that it is relying on the 25 percent support for President Arroyo and translate this into a solid bloc for the presumptive Lakas-Kampi presidential candidate, Ebdane said he is looking more into one-third of the total voting population which remains uncommitted.