The decision of his dad, vice presidentiable Edu Manzano, to seek the second highest post in the land surprised his son, Luis Manzano.
“I was in Las Vegas to watch the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto at the MGM Garden Arena when I got 50 text messages from friends, who told me about it,” recalls Luis. “Then, I got the text message from Dad, simply telling me that he’s running for vice president. It was like he was just going to the grocery.”
Luis may not have been ready for the piece of news.
But he is sure his dad knows what he’s getting into.
“My dad will not enter a battle he’s not ready for,” Luis states. “He is ready for its consequences. I believe in his integrity. I know his intentions. I believe he is sincere. ”
Luis knows the battle won’t be easy for his dad, a first-timer in the vice-presidential race. So, he is supporting Edu all the way.
Luis knows his dad’s track record speaks for itself.
Edu was exposed to military discipline as early as age 17, when he joined the U.S. military and served for four years.
He became first chair of Optical Media Board, a government agency tasked with combating optical media piracy.
As public servant, Edu was got the “Outstanding and Unblemished Vice Mayor” award from the National Press Club during his term as Makati vice mayor.
Edu established the Anti-Child Abuse and Pornography (ACAP) Foundation after finding out that many of the pirated DVD materials the OMB had confiscated from retailers featured children, including Pinoy and Pinay toddlers as young as five, in lurid sex scenes.
Edu’s political platform centers on education.
“There is no other route to economic development or high quality of life than thru improvement of human capital via education,” he says.
“To be globally competitive as a country, we must address head on the major challenges in our economy, particularly weak government finances and low levels of investment, failure of economic growth to translate to poverty when elected, I will come up with a national strategy that would prioritize public spending on education, health and housing; improve quality of governance so cost of doing business is low and extend which account for 90 percent of labor employment.”
Edu also promises a “leadership of cooperation” which will break away from government dependence or what he calls “learned dependence.”