Rain or Shine management will allow James Yap to focus on his bid to win one of the available seats in San Juan City council in next year’s elections.
Team governor Mamerto Mondragon said Thursday that the Elasto Painters gave their full blessing to the two-time PBA Most Valuable Player so he can concentrate on his campaign as he enters politics for the first time.
That’s means Yap won’t be seeing action in the coming conference because of his busy schedule.
“We would like him to concentrate and focus on his campaign,” Mondragon said. “Our team recognizes the need for him to touch base with his constituents.”
“He can go to the team practice and during our games in the coming conference,” added the amiable team official.
The franchise is owned by Raymund Yu and Terry Que.
Yap is looking to become one of six councilors in San Juan’s first district under the ticket of incumbent mayor Francis Zamora, who is seeking a second term.
Also part of Zamora’s ticket are re-electionist first district councilor Paul Artadi, Yap’s former University of the East and Purefoods teammate, and ex-PBA player Don Allado, who will run in San Juan’s second district.
The 39-year-old Yap played only seven games for the Elasto Painters during the recent Philippine Cup, averaging 7.9 points on 43-percent shooting and 2.0 rebounds.
Yap scored in double figures just twice during the campaign, including a 16-point output last Sept. 30 when ROS was eliminated in the quarterfinals by his former team Magnolia Pambansang Manok following a 96-86 defeat in Bacolor, Pampanga.
