Lito Lapid confirms he'll run for mayor of Makati

(via MLQ3) Straight out of the horse's mouth nga. He'll run for office in Makati.

Inamin ni Lito Lapid dati na pakulo ng magasawang Arroyo na tumakbo si Lito Lapid sa pagka-mayor ng Makati early this year.

Lapid, who is out of the country, had earlier said it was Mrs. Arroyo and her husband who proposed that he run against Binay in the 2007 polls.

Mr. Arroyo denied Lapid’s statement, adding that the senator “has a mind of his own to decide on his political destiny.”

Ito naman ang reaction ni Mr. Binay:

"Thank you, Mr. Arroyo, for confirming what we have been saying – that the 2007 election in Makati will not really be between me and Lapid, but between me and the Arroyos," Binay said. It is just sad, he added, that they can’t even fight their own battles, and that Lito Lapid, now a Senator in his own right, is reduced to being a stuntman or stand-in for the first family.

Binay likewise reminded Arroyo that it was Lapid himself who told media that the Arroyos had convinced him to run for Makati mayor.

"If he is bellyaching about being dragged into the issue, then he should scold Lito Lapid who told the media about the role of the Arroyos in his planned candidacy," he said.

Madaldal kasi si Lapid eh.

More info from Ducky Paredes:

If Senator Lito Lapid wants to run for mayor of Makati against incumbent Mayor Jejomar Binay, we ought to do our best to encourage him. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has Senatror Lito that doing so would be committing "political harakiri" but Lapid says that he is being pressured by Gloria and Mike Arroyo to run against Binay.

Lapid has even announced that he will buy a house in Magallanes Subdivision and should already have applied for residency in the city last April 15, if his plans have not changed.

And Ellen Tordesillas has lots of details about Lapid's Makati moves and how it fits in with Mike Arroyo's plans.

For me, this is more than just a Binay vs. Lapid fight.

This is Mike Arroyo's war against Binay.

Halos lahat ng mayors ay nasa poder na ng Administration, like Lito Atienza of MayniLA, and Sonny Belmonte of Quezon City.

Si Binay na lang ang kailangan nilang patumbahin. And what a prize Makati is for the Arroyos. Makati is the Business center of the Philippines. Doon nakatira halos lahat ng mga businessman foreigners. No wonder atat na atat na gustong makuha ni Mike arroyo ang Makati.

My advice for Binay is this: he should make Mike Arroyo an issue in this Makati race, cuz there's no separating Mike Arroyo from his pawn Lito Lapid.

You cannot separate the puppeteer from the dummy.

Binay is right. This is a proxy war waged against him by the admin dahil gustong makuha ni Pidal ang Makati.