Manuel "Lito" Mercado Lapid (; born October 25, 1955) is a Filipino actor and politician serving as a Senator since 2019, and previously from 2004 to 2016. He started his political career in

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...

, serving as vice governor from 1992 to 1995, and

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 1995 to 2004. In 2015, he was charged for graft over his alleged involvement in the 2004 Fertilizer Fund scam while he was governor of Pampanga, but the case was dismissed in 2016 by the

Sandiganbayan The Sandiganbayan ( en, Support of the Nation) is a special appellate collegial court in the Philippines that has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving graft and corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public office ...

anti-graft court due to the "inordinate delay" in the investigation.

Early life and education

Lapid was born in

Porac Porac, officially the Municipality of Porac ( pam, Balen ning Porac; fil, Bayan ng Porac), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 140,751 people. The Subic–Cl ...

on October 25, 1955. He is the fifth child out of nine children of Jose Songco Lapid and Eleuteria Mercado. He completed his elementary education at the Porac Central School in 1968 and secondary education at St. Catherine's Academy in Porac in 1972. He did not enroll for his tertiary education as he pursued acting.

Acting career

Lapid entered the film industry as a stuntman, and became an actor. He is the nephew of Jess Lapid and the cousin of

Jess Lapid Jr. Jesse Lloyd Flake Lapid, commonly known as Jess Lapid Jr. (born March 22, 1962), is a film and television actor, film and fight director, scuba course director of CMAS Philippines, and underwater director of photography. More popularly known ...

The movie "The Jess Lapid Story" got him noticed in the movie industry.

Political career

In the 1992 general election he ran under the opposition block Nationalist People's Coalition as vice governor of

, and defeated the incumbent vice governor Cielo Macapagal-Salgado. In 1995, he ran for governor of Pampanga under the same party against Governor Bren Guiao, who had the support of former President Corazon Aquino, and won. When he sought a second term in 1998, Lapid joined the administration party Lakas-NUCD. After the impeachment of President

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice presi ...

in 2000 and the

second EDSA Revolution The Second EDSA Revolution, also known as the Second People Power Revolution, EDSA 2001, or EDSA II (pronounced ''EDSA Two'' or ''EDSA Dos''), was a political protest from January 17–20, 2001, which peacefully overthrew the government of Jose ...

the following year, he ran again for his final term and won. He decided to run as mayor of

Angeles City , anthem = Himno ning Angeles (Angeles Hymn) , subdivision_type3 = District , subdivision_name3 = , established_title = Settled , established_date = 1796 , established_title1 = Chartere ...

, in the 2004 elections but abandoned his plans when he was encouraged to run as a senator.

Senate

During the 2004 Senatorial elections, the then-

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...

encouraged Lapid to run as a senator under the administration coalition K4. He accepted the offer and won the election where he placed eleventh. In May 2010, he was re-elected as senator, placing 11th in the overall ranking. He ran under the

Lakas–CMD Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats, abbreviated as Lakas–CMD and also known simply as Lakas, is a political party in the Philippines. Lakas–CMD is considered to sit on the centre-right of the political spectrum, and is influenced by Chris ...

but subsequently left the party in 2012 and served until 2016 as an independent. He was chairman of the Senate Committee on Tourism and Cooperatives. On October 15, 2018, Lapid filed his Certificate of Candidacy for senator at the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

Intramuros Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. On May 22, 2019, he was proclaimed as one of the winners of the

2019 Philippine Senate election The 2019 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 33rd election of members to the Senate of the Philippines for a six-year term. It was held on May 13, 2019. The seats of 12 senators elected in 2013 were contested during thi ...

by the Commission on Elections sitting as National Board of Canvassers. He garnered 16,954,677 votes placing him in seventh place, succeeding Senator

Sonny Angara Sonny is a common nickname and occasional given name. Often it can be a derivative of the English word "Son", a name derived from the Ancient Germanic element *sunn meaning "sun", a nickname derived from the Italian name Salvatore (especially in N ...

at sixth and preceding former

Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner ...

governor

Imee Marcos Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios "Imee" Romualdez Marcos (; born November 12, 1955) is a Filipina politician and former actress serving as a Senator since 2019. She is the daughter of Ferdinand Marcos and former first lady Imelda Marcos and the o ...

at eighth.

Personal life

Lapid is married to Marissa Tadeo, with whom he has four children including

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

. Lapid also has a child with former supermodel

Melanie Marquez Mimilanie Laurel Marquez-Lawyer (; born 16 July 1964), popularly known as Melanie Marquez, is a Filipino personality development coach, actress, film producer, author, celebrity endorser, former supermodel and beauty pageant titleholder who was ...

and another, actress

Ysabel Ortega Maria Ysabel Ortega Lapid (born January 25, 1999), professionally known as Ysabel Ortega (), is a Filipino actress, commercial model, singer and dancer. She rose to fame for playing the main antagonist and villain Charlotte "Charlie" Quiñones ...

with former singer, Michelle Ortega.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Senate of the Philippines - Lito Lapid
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapid, Lito 1955 births Living people ABS-CBN personalities Filipino actor-politicians Filipino film directors Filipino male film actors GMA Network personalities Governors of Pampanga Kapampangan people Lakas–CMD politicians Male actors from Pampanga Members of the Pampanga Provincial Board Nationalist People's Coalition politicians People from Makati Senators of the 13th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 14th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 15th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 16th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 18th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 19th Congress of the Philippines