Sen. Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid owes his success to the movie cameras that rolled out scenes of his heroism, which he brought to real life as a politician in Pampanga and now as a senator, but in the Senate he has done his work silently behind the cameras.

Lapid, who is not known for his prowess in the English language, has not been seen many times on the floor of the Senate during controversial debates in the chamber, but he reported that he has filed over 300 bills and figured in many of the Senate’s legislative work as co-author of many bills that have been passed into law.

Lapid is running for reelection as senator in the 2010 elections under the administration party Lakas-Kampi CMD.

Lapid’s stint in the Senate was marked by comic situations like being dubbed as the Senate’s “Batman” for his physique and unique fashion sense and his insistence on using the Filipino language in the proceedings of the Senate. But these did not prevent Lapid from fulfilling his mandate as senator, though behind the cameras and the spotlights.

Lapid also filed a resolution in the Senate to allow senators to use the Filipino language in Senate proceedings which resulted in more senators using Filipino in debates in the Senate.

The resolution earned for him a citation from the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa.

Unknown to many, Lapid is one of the first to have filed a bill that has been consolidated to become the much-vaunted Cheaper Medicines Law which cut the prices of the most useful medicines, mostly to treat diseases like hypertension and cancer.

Lapid worked as co-author in the consolidated bill that has become the Cheaper Medicines Law.