CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Not only will he “definitely” run for governor of Pampanga. Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid said he is also seeking Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda as his running mate in the 2010 elections.
Speaking later through his spokesperson Bernie Cruz, Lapid said he was taking in Pineda to the Lakas-CMD slate to prevent a three-cornered gubernatorial race in May 2010.
Lapid, a movie actor who is set to complete his six-year term as legislator, has remained as provincial chair of Lakas-CMD since he finished his nine-year stint as governor in 2004.
Pineda, who is serving his third and last term as mayor, is with Kampi which was founded by President Macapagal-Arroyo, his ninang (wedding godparent ).
The senator said he did not want a repeat of a three-way fight that evolved in the 2007 elections. Back then, concerned Kapampangans pushed a Catholic priest, now Gov. Eddie Panlilio, to challenge Lapid’s son Mark and Pineda’s mother Lilia.
Cruz said the senator was “not forcing a Lapid-Pineda tandem” though.
“Nung bisa la mu (That is if they want it too),” Cruz quoted Lapid as saying, adding: ‘Kasangga no man talaga (They are really our allies).”
This early, the gubernatorial contest is shaping up as a four-cornered fight among Senator Lapid, Mayor Pineda, 2nd District Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo and City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
Panlilio has not hinted of a reelection plan and has not yet decided on whether he was returning to the priesthood or answering clamors to run for president. Rodriguez has expressed readiness to keep the engine of good governance reforms that Panlilio has started, including the efficient, graft-free system in the collection of quarry taxes that stood at P380 million in 23 months.
With Lapid in the running, Panlilio urged Kapampangans to be “more discerning.”
“They should study how [Lapid] performed as a governor and as a senator,” Panlilio said.
Lapid did not say if they already clinched the nod of the Kampi bet. In a phone interview, Mayor Pineda said he has not firmed up his plan. He said local Kampi leaders were still discussing how things would go in 2010, indicating that it was remote for Lakas-CMD and Kampi to merge by then.
Punto sources in the Pineda camp said the mayor’s father, suspected jueteng lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda, may not warm up to the plan.
In the 2007 polls where he sought a reelection, Mark Lapid dumped Mayor Pineda for business executive Paul Tristan Laus.
Bong Pineda confirmed to this reporter in December 2006 that Senator Lapid made him wait for hours in a golf course in California, USA and later refused to meet him. “I came as a father and he ignored me,” the elder Pineda said.
Lilia Pineda, a former board member, took a singular pitch in her 2007 campaign: End the Lapid era in Pampanga and their supposed graft and bad governance.
Still, Lapid said: “’Gang nang malyari tagal kung governor (Whatever happens, I’m running for governor).”
Last January, the senator transferred his voter’s registration to his hometown, Porac, from Makati City where he ran for mayor and lost against opposition stalwart Mayor Jejomar Binay.
He returned to the Senate and managed to get President Macapagal-Arroyo appoint his son as general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority.
Speaking later through his spokesperson Bernie Cruz, Lapid said he was taking in Pineda to the Lakas-CMD slate to prevent a three-cornered gubernatorial race in May 2010.
Lapid, a movie actor who is set to complete his six-year term as legislator, has remained as provincial chair of Lakas-CMD since he finished his nine-year stint as governor in 2004.
Pineda, who is serving his third and last term as mayor, is with Kampi which was founded by President Macapagal-Arroyo, his ninang (wedding godparent ).
The senator said he did not want a repeat of a three-way fight that evolved in the 2007 elections. Back then, concerned Kapampangans pushed a Catholic priest, now Gov. Eddie Panlilio, to challenge Lapid’s son Mark and Pineda’s mother Lilia.
Cruz said the senator was “not forcing a Lapid-Pineda tandem” though.
“Nung bisa la mu (That is if they want it too),” Cruz quoted Lapid as saying, adding: ‘Kasangga no man talaga (They are really our allies).”
This early, the gubernatorial contest is shaping up as a four-cornered fight among Senator Lapid, Mayor Pineda, 2nd District Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo and City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
Panlilio has not hinted of a reelection plan and has not yet decided on whether he was returning to the priesthood or answering clamors to run for president. Rodriguez has expressed readiness to keep the engine of good governance reforms that Panlilio has started, including the efficient, graft-free system in the collection of quarry taxes that stood at P380 million in 23 months.
With Lapid in the running, Panlilio urged Kapampangans to be “more discerning.”
“They should study how [Lapid] performed as a governor and as a senator,” Panlilio said.
Lapid did not say if they already clinched the nod of the Kampi bet. In a phone interview, Mayor Pineda said he has not firmed up his plan. He said local Kampi leaders were still discussing how things would go in 2010, indicating that it was remote for Lakas-CMD and Kampi to merge by then.
Punto sources in the Pineda camp said the mayor’s father, suspected jueteng lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda, may not warm up to the plan.
In the 2007 polls where he sought a reelection, Mark Lapid dumped Mayor Pineda for business executive Paul Tristan Laus.
Bong Pineda confirmed to this reporter in December 2006 that Senator Lapid made him wait for hours in a golf course in California, USA and later refused to meet him. “I came as a father and he ignored me,” the elder Pineda said.
Lilia Pineda, a former board member, took a singular pitch in her 2007 campaign: End the Lapid era in Pampanga and their supposed graft and bad governance.
Still, Lapid said: “’Gang nang malyari tagal kung governor (Whatever happens, I’m running for governor).”
Last January, the senator transferred his voter’s registration to his hometown, Porac, from Makati City where he ran for mayor and lost against opposition stalwart Mayor Jejomar Binay.
He returned to the Senate and managed to get President Macapagal-Arroyo appoint his son as general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority.
