Edu Manzano talks about being a father to his children
Edu Manzano during a media junket for “Lavender Fields.” Images: Instagram/@dreamscapeph
Being a father is a role that Edu Manzano has grown accustomed to for quite some time. But there are moments when he finds himself in a tough spot between drawing the line between allowing his children to make mistakes and calling them out when they’re wrong.
After a two-year break, Manzano made his teleserye comeback with “Lavender Fields,” where he stars as Vitto Buenavidez, the father of the main antagonist Iris Buenvadez (Janine Gutierrez). Vitto is willing to do anything to ensure his daughter’s happiness — no matter how twisted things would turn out.
But Manzano described himself as a parent who would “take the good and the bad,” when asked how he draws the line in allowing his children to mess up and reprimanding them for their mistakes.
“That’s a nice question because I’ve asked myself that many times. When I think that my child has stumbled unknowingly, would they accept the responsibility or take the blame?” he told INQUIRER.net while pondering over his answer.
“Sometimes, you have to take the good and the bad. I never impose. I never tell them what to do. [I’m more of], ‘Bahala ka. Pag-isipan mo nang mabuti (I’ll let you be. Make sure you thought this through.’ I give them a certain amount of time,” Manzano continued.
Article continues after this advertisementThe actor looked back on his own experiences as a father, saying his son Luis eventually learned how to differentiate between right and wrong in his terms.
“My son Luis has been through a lot. He’s still very young pero marami na siyang pinagdaanan. And each time, maybe initially, may konting resistance. But at the end of the day, nagtatagumpay,” he recalled.
(My son Luis has been through a lot. He’s still very young but he went through a lot of experiences already. And each time, maybe initially, there was a form of resistance. But at the end of the day, he succeeds.)
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Manzano then shared that his daughter Addie initially didn’t introduce her then-boyfriend Jared Glassman to him, and had to find it out upon seeing them together. Addie and Jared are currently married, having tied the knot twice, in September 2022 and December 2023.
“My daughter [Addie], noong ikakasal na siya, she had to tell me na ikakasal na siya but she couldn’t do it in front of my face. Talagang long-distance pa… isang lalaki lang ang pinakilala niya sa’kin as her boyfriend — only because nahuli ko sila. Otherwise, hindi niya ipapakilala sa’kin,” he said. “Maaaring misguided minsan [intentions ko back then] but I only want the best for them.
(My daughter Addie, when she was about to tie the knot, had to tell me she was getting married but she couldn’t do it in front of my face. She had to do it long distance. She only introduced me to one man as her boyfriend — only because I caught them together. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have introduced him to me. I sometimes had misguided intentions but I only want the best for them.)
“Please, try not to understand your parents. Just tolerate them na lang,” he added in jest.
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Staying on the topic of his daughter Addie, Manzano said he initially hesitated in allowing her to take a sabbatical leave as she was poised to accomplish her master’s degree in New York. He eventually gave in to her wishes, noting how much it made her happier.
“I would say, ‘16 pa lang ako, nagtatrabaho na ako.’ [Pero I would be told by Addie], ‘Oo, noong panahon mo.’ My daughter wanted to take a sabbatical after graduating from Ateneo. But I told her, ‘You’re supposed to take your master’s in Parsons in New York,’” he recalled.
“And then I would realize [that she needs to figure things out on her own]. Then, I gave her a chance to search and find her spot in the world. And I’ve never seen her this happier,” he added.
Manzano has four children: Luis (with screen veteran Vilma Santos), as well as Addie, Enzo and Diego with his former partner Rina Samson.
