Lapid to get Senate interpreter

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Expect to see Sen. Lito Lapid wearing an earphone during sessions. Nope, he won’t be listening to music from an MP3 player but a Filipino translation of the proceedings.

Lapid, a high school graduate, has admitted his difficulty in English. This early, the outgoing Pampanga governor has plans of tapping a female cousin-lawyer to serve as his translator in the Senate.

During Senate sessions, Lapid said his cousin will be seated in the gallery from where she will translate the proceedings. An earphone will connect them wirelessly.

"Akala siguro nila yung interpreter laging nasa likod ko (Perhaps, they assume that the interpreter will always be seated behind me)," he said.

Lapid confessed that he has asked Senate President Franklin Drilon to communicate with him in Filipino. He said he expects his colleagues to do the same, adding that they spoke in Filipino during the campaign to reach out to the masses.

Besides hiring an interpreter, Lapid said he will have all documents requiring his attention translated too.

He said he now has a Filipino version of the Local Government Code but still cannot find one of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Lapid appealed to opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., who he admitted was one of his benefactors in the movie industry, to accept defeat to calm down his supporters.

"Hindi lang naman ngayon ang pulitika. Sa susunod, puwede pa naman (It’s not only now that he can go into politics. He can still run next time)" he said.

Lapid said he plans to pursue legislations that will make education more accessible to the poor, uplift the plight of senior citizens and farmers, and modernize the agricultural sector. — Ding Cervantes