Actor-politician Mark Lapid took up the cudgels for his father, Senator Lito Lapid, amid criticisms that he underperformed as a lawmaker, and mocked for supposedly being a member of the Senate ‘committee on silence.’
Speaking to the entertainment press, Mark got candid when asked about how the elder Lapid, known for being reticent on the Senate floor, was really taking the bashing over the years.
The ‘Sigabo’ actor said that he and his siblings also feel hurt when they read about it on social media, but that as public servants they shouldn’t be too onion-skinned when it comes to criticisms. As seasoned politicians, Mark said that they have learned to take the criticisms in stride.
‘Of course masakit yan, bilang isang anak. But we’re here, nandito kami sa trabahong ito, so we just have to accept all criticisms as a learning stage, and we all know na hindi naman totoo,’ Mark said of his father, who is now on his last term as senator.
‘Nasasaktan yan (Lito). Syempre tao naman tayong pare-pareho. Kasi if we will balat-sibuyas, hindi kami dapat dito. Wala kaming karapatan na magsilbi kung di kami tumatanggap ng kritisismo. Kasi hindi naman kami perpektong tao e… It’s part of our job to be criticized,’ he further said.
Mark said his father is naturally quiet and not given to grandstanding, that’s why people often equate his silence to nonperformance. In truth, he said, his father was more of an action man, who has already passed hundreds of bills into law.
”Di namin kelangang i-brag, but the records are there to prove that he has done his job even though he is not loud… There are some issues kase where he doesn’t need to talk or say something to be relevant. So ganun lang yon. Ang kanya, kung kelan sya kelangang maging relevant, dun sya nagsasalita,’ he further said.
Mark said the bad perception about his father may be due to the fact that people still look down on his father, who is just a high school graduate and actor before joining politics.
With the presence of social media, they are hopeful that more people would be more aware of his father’s achievements.
‘Hndi lang nya binibida, hindi alam na sa kanya, dahil siguro tingin pa rin sa kanya hindi sya nakapagtapos, high school graduatuate sya, so medyo mababa ang tingin, artista lang sya. May mga ganyang factors siguro. We hope with all the records out there, sana ma appreciate na sya,’ he added.
Mark is currently the chief operating officer of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), an attached agency under the Department of Tourism in charge of tourism infrastructure. Prior to this post, he was the general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority, the precursor of Tieza, after serving as governor of Pampanga from 2004 to 2007.