Senator and former “action star” Lito Lapid will be moonlighting again in showbiz despite his duties as senator-judge in the on-going impeachment trial versus Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. “Kailangan kong kumayod,” (my translation: “I need to scrape hard to make a living”) said the action man which leads us to wonder what sort of financial obligations he might be saddled with to have to juggle several jobs. Lapid recently signed up with media conglomerate ABS-CBN to do “an action-oriented teleserye“.
Bong Osorio, the network’s Head of Corporate Communications said the senator just signed a contract on Tuesday afternoon, January 24 in the presence of ABS-CBN president Charo Santos-Concio, Channel Head Cory Vidanes, TV entertainment head Linggit Tan and Raymond Dizon, Business Unit Head of the senator’s comeback project.
Lapid will reportedly be playing the part of a kutsero (coachman) in the teleserye (television drama series) The Little Champ. It is his first foray into television after a long career as an “action star” in Philippine cinema (and of course as a politician in Philippine politics which pretty much also involves pimping one’s self before the cameras).
The Philippine Senator also expressed concerned that his advancing age presents a challenge to him to remain relevant in society. “Medyo tumatanda na tayo. Baka nakalimutan na tayo ng tao, at ang exposure ay maganda dito ‘yung TFC sa States,†(“I’m kinda getting old. People might start to forget me. This will be good exposure for me”) he reportedly said. That’s a fair concern to harbour considering how some people wonder why he is even provided a microphone in the Senate activities he supposedly participates in.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Lapid also assured the public that his acting work will not compromise his duties as a Philippine Senator. He pointed out how he has for some time in his career, even when he was still governor of Pampanga province, mixed politics and showbiz and that he still sees the impeachment as a “priority” of his.
The point that Senator Lapid seems to be missing, however, is that while he is able to deliver a passable performance as Senator (so he claims) given his sidelines in showbiz, it can be argued that he potentially could have been a better Senator if he had focused primarily on the job. But like the movies actors like him make, politics in the Philippines is marked by banal mediocrity. And if that mediocrity is acceptable to Filipinos, then perhaps there is some logical sense in the way Lapid prioritises his time. After all, pwede na yan (“that’ll do”) describes the standards of quality Filipinos in general demand of their public servants — and movie and television producers.
More disturbing, however, is how Senator Lapid is now effectively under some sort of an employment contract with ABS-CBN. ABS-CBN, as many are already aware of, benefited hugely from the ascent to power of the Aquino-Cojuangco clan. As such, the manner with which ABS-CBN spins “news” surrounding Philippine politics has widely become suspect. Even more revealing is how the media conglomerate provides a crack team of lawyers to bolster the prosecution team in the impeachment trial (excerpt below quoted from Interaksyon.com in the aforelinked article)…
“Atty. Mario Bautista has taken a leave from his functions and duties as General Counsel of ABS-CBN Corp. He informed us that he will take on the role of lead prosecutor at the CJ impeachment trial,†Bong Osorio, the broadcasting network’s head of corporate communications, told Interaksyon.com.
Sources said that aside from Bautista, four other top ABS-CBN executives are working for the House prosecution team: Maximilian Uy, chief legal counsel & assistant corporate secretary; Manuel Torres, corporate secretary; Maximilian Joseph Uy, legal services head and assistant corporate secretary; and Enrique Quiason, assistant corporate secretary.
The company, however, did not comment on the other four lawyers’ alleged participation in the prosecution team.
Holy conflict-of-interest, Batman!
“Conflict-of-interest” is one of the cornerstones of a widespread campaign to demonise Corona. “Investigative journalist” Raissa Robles made it the entire point of a So What? article on the alleged improprieties of Corona’s wife Cristina Corona — information that has no bearing on the impeachment case whatsoever.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
good one.
the media is supposed to be the fourth pillar of democracy and a watchdog for the people, not a lapdog of the president
Aquino
Brand
Services
–
Cojuangco
Business
Network
Aquino
Bull
Sh!t
Complete
Bullcrap
Newscasting
lapid – the silent man of the senate
quick to take his 100 million pesos every year – but silent on where it is spent.
broke! have you seen his house and cars!!
pfffft! Include Bong Revilla. They were on the same ticket during the senatorial race. Tsk…tsk.. I remember one of the Erap-tion jokes: Birds with the same feather ….are the same birds
Lahat na paratang nyo kay sen.lito lapid mga walang basihan at wala kang patunay.. ang gawin mo mag file ka ng impeachment case kay sen. lito lapid.. ngakngak! ka ng ngakngak! jan.. lahat na paratang mo masisilip yan once na mgfeli ka ng impeachment case..
at L.M. Lapid, ipaliwanag mo yung $50,000 ng smuggler mong misis.
Di naman mayaman si Lapid. Kaya nga nag Abscbn, para dagdag kayod. Daw. Tag hirap much?
Scape goat parang takpan ang asawa. I wonder , how long have she been doing it an mag deposito ng pera as US. HIndi niya alam nagbabago ang law as US. This is purely corruption. Ginagawa nilang security blanket ang US for their future income. They can run…..but they cannot hide.
this is one hell of a YES vote for the impeachment of the CJ!
money money money……
conflicts of interest & self-interest
the honorable senators!
lapid – a last hurrah on tv
cayetano – wifes election case
drilon – wants senate presidency
angara – father-senator, son-spokesperson
re-electionists
tupas – fathers court case & senate ambitions
pork barrel – the ever present bribe/threat
titles dont honor men, men honor or dishonor titles.
what will Madame Arroyo say about that? :/
Guys,
read this.
http://raissarobles.com/2012/01/24/from-his-own-mouth-cj-coronas-guidelines-in-the-use-of-salns-itrs-to-prove-ill-gotten-wealth/#respond
what’s funny is that my post is still waiting “moderator approval” when someone favoring her blog was posted right after mine.
My post:
“The document is Chief Justice Corona’s landmark decision on July 15, 2003 turning over the Marcoses’ loot stashed in Swiss banks to the Philippine government.”
I want to be objective here. This decision was made in 2003, the Chief Justice Corona just became Chief Justice in 2010.
mutual mental masturbation society and now that she has a contract with abs-cbn as ‘independent blogger/journalist!’ impartiality goes out of the door as monthly cheques come in
no wonder she is getting fed inside info so that abs-cbn can claim hands-off
little integrity left in journalism
abs-cbn just buy people with contracts. see post re lapid.
cool! my post did not approval here. 😀
it’s posted up there. May delay talaga minsan.
i just looked at the site
comments from wannabe lawyer but clear why he isnt, and those who simply praise rr – “should be on the prosecution team – nobel prize for literature”!! maybe she writes comments herself!. noone can be that stupid – can they?!
plus this one which begged the obvious question:
“How come I did not read any opinions from the
other side of the fence? Are we all pro Raissa’s ?
Well then MABUHAY PILIPINAS! I can now sleep
well knowing that all’ s well in the battle front.
Reply
raissa says:
January 25, 2012 at 11:32 am
Dunno.”
“Conflict-of-interestâ€
We can consider Senator Lito Lapid’s hiring by ABS-CBN as the icing on the cake.
Many pundits say Leon Guererro will go with Malacanang’s wishes. The continued stint of Lapid’s son Mark as GM of the Philippine Tourism Authority (reportedly one of the main reason why former Secretary of Tourism Alberto Lim resigned) is proof of the pudding.
“Who gets what, when, and how?” Wow Philippines!
WoW!
With all the issues connecting Aquino and ABS-CBN, wouldn’t this be a great time to sign-in?? ^^ What was he thinking??
Dumbass senator Lito Lapid making dumbass TV shows. Probably out of penis envy after seeing Pacquiao’s game show and Revilla’s movies.
This is exactly what makes the Senate more pathetic and less trustworthy among Filipinos who actually work for a living and pay income tax.
May kaso pla yung asawa nya sa US, daming pera oh ;D
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=771337&publicationSubCategoryId=63
lapids wife arrested today in US for smuggling 50,000 $.
another politician/family disgrace the country.
and lapid claimed the other day he is poor.
a despicabke disgrace.
inhibit and also resign – but no integrity, just greedy and corrupt.
There is only one thing, L. Lapid has no business being in the senate so as Bong Revilla. This people are uneducated and not qualified. You need some kind of intelligence at least if you are going to hold a public office.
Just a concept:
– Pedro cannot simply start doing heart surgery on people coz he has to be qualified by going to medical school.
– Pedro cannot simply start doing dental surgeries or dental work until he attend dental school.
– Pedro cannot simply start performing a nurse duty by administering IV medication unless Pedro attended nursing school.
Note: it should be the same with politicians, they have to be qualified. The problem in the Philippines is the constitution. No education requirement, no experience. You just need to be popular and stupid to get a seat in the senate or congress.
Hypocrisy is really appalling. The poor senator-movie star is now in hot water because he reportedly signed a contract with a yellow station – and this is agravated by his wife’s recent encounter with the US cuctoms. Tsk…tsk…So no one saw him when he was pitted against Binay in the mayoral race? More sensible citizen (kuno) are cursing the grass roots Pinoys for voting a moviestar but who put him on the senatorial race track in the first place? No one has ever thrown a stone to him when he wore that red robe for the photoshoot last month None because he was still under the skirt of your Glorified patroness. I bet when Bong Revilla shows a move to go to the yellow station too, more eyes – hypocrites they are – will be on Ramgen’s case. Get Real talaga!