ACTOR and administration vice presidential bet Edu Manzano yesterday confirmed breaking up with his girlfriend of five years, news anchor Pinky Webb, over his decision to run in the 2010 polls.
Manzano said Webb, whom he was supposed to marry this year, was caught unprepared by his decision to be the running mate of Lakas-Kampi CMD standard-bearer Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
“She was aware that we had ongoing discussions, but I was not able to consult her on my final decision. It came as a shock to her,” Manzano told Standard Today in a chance interview at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza after the national convention of the Lakas-Kampi CMD at the Philippine International Convention Center.
The couple celebrated their fifth year together on Oct. 19, and had been planning to get married this year when they decided to split up.
“We both agreed that the campaign would put a lot of strain on our friendship,’’ Manzano said.
’’There are just some things that will not always go the way we planned it, and you just have to play the hand that you are dealt.”
Manzano said that before they broke up, ABS-CBN had already asked Webb to go on leave to avoid any conflict of interest.
The network’s management had also asked news anchor Korina Sanchez to go on leave when her fiancé, Senator Manuel Roxas II, prepared to run for the presidency.
Talk show host Kris Aquino, the younger sister and active campaigner for the Liberal Party standard-bearer, Senator Benigno Aquino III, continues to appear on her programs on ABS-CBN.
Manzano said he did not think the split would have an impact on his campaign, though he admitted that he was “smiling but hurting inside.”
Manzano, a one-time vice mayor of Makati City and a former chairman of the Optical Media Board, agreed to become Teodoro’s running mate last week.
Entertainment industry sources said Manzano’s son with Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto, Luis, was also caught off guard by his decision to run for vice president.
But Manzano said his son would support him in his campaign and was absent yesterday only because he was out of the country.
Santos-Recto abandoned the administration party, where she previously had served as provincial chairman, to join the Liberal Party with her husband, former economic planning chief Ralph Recto.
Manzano said he and Teodoro would have to work hard to fare better in the surveys.
“I know the other teams are faring better than us, so in a sense they are all threats to us,’ he said. “But we will just have to work harder and make ourselves more visible.”
