This princess is a fighter

CEBU, Philippines - Her name may suggest it, but she stresses that she is no princess.

Princess Lieza Manzon was born not in a fantasy castle, but in a very real world.

This Cebuana Pinoy Big Brother housemate admits that she didn’t live the life of a princess. Instead, she had to work her way to achieve the things that she wants.

For 22 years, Princess has seen that life isn’t a fairy tale. She has learned that there are no magic tricks to make life easier, and that yes, wicked storybook characters and kind fairy godmothers do exist.

Princess was born and grew up in Camotes, a cluster of islands located northeast of Cebu. She was raised by her grandparents while her mother was working in Japan. Her father, on the other hand, lives in Mindanao. A “complicated family” is how she describes her family background because of the broken relationships.

After high school, she left for Japan in order to be with her mom. But what she thought would be a happy ending for her and her mother turned out to be another painful twist to the story as she found out that her mom had another family.

Princess had to learn to fend for herself, be independent, and live on her own. In Japan, she worked as a restaurant receptionist, language instructor and interpreter, and events organizer.

Princess also admits to having been once in love with a Filipino-American while in Japan. But, she says, things didn’t turn out quite well for her and her “ex-fiancé”.

Princess is known for her high-spirited, carefree personality. She says that she’s the kind of person who’s always ready for adventure, which is also why she chose to join Pinoy Big Brother Double Up.

To change the Filipina image

Ironically, Princess didn’t have the slightest idea what the reality show was about.

“It was my boss from the events company who told me to audition. And so I did. I didn’t know what the show was about. When I got in, all my friends advised me to be just myself. So, that’s it,” Princess, who auditioned in Tokyo, Japan, tells The FREEMAN.

Her friends say that Princess didn’t know how to play the game. But Princess says she took the opportunity because she wanted to also prove something.

“I wanted to change the image of Filipinos, especially the women, in Japan. These are hard-working people, who are risking their lives just to give something to their families,” she shares.

She had hoped that through PBB she would be able to show that working in Japan does not mean doing something bad as it takes “humility and courage” to survive there.

Yet, Princess admits that with her short stint inside the house, she failed to deliver such message. But she is positive that she was able to somehow prove that women may look vulnerable, but if you scratch the surface, you can bring out the toughness—the fighter in them.

“Didto sa Japan, grabe ang discrimination. Once they know that you are Filipino, even though you’re smart, you’re nothing to them,” she stresses. “So, you really had to learn to stand up for yourself.”

But Princess’ strong attitude brought about misunderstandings in the house. For her, she was just being herself, but for the others, she was rubbing them the wrong way. Her fellow housemates also viewed her as too frank and tactless. One instance, she tried to challenge Big Brother by hiring a translator so he could understand Princess who was at that time speaking in Cebuano. Told that because of her actions inside the house, she has been tagged as “maldita,” she reacts good-humouredly, “Better ‘maldita’ than a flirt.”

“Wala man sila kasabot,” she continues, “I’ve always stood up for myself. And I didn’t know things have to be that way inside the house.”

This and a few more things piled up and eventually, led to Princess’ decision to voluntary exit the house.

No regrets

Contrary to what Princess had originally planned, she left the house three weeks after it opened.

Initially, Princess planned to stay until the last night as she liked the pressure of the competition. Yet things seemed to turn around as each day passed as she began to lose track of herself.

“I wanted to keep myself intact. I realized in PBB, things don’t end there. What help can it do to me when at the end of the game, I don’t know myself anymore?” she reasons.

Her decision came rather as a surprise to most of the housemates (and even to the production people, she would learn later), yet she was firm on it.

“Even before I entered the house, I already read feedbacks in the forum about me. There were tags that didn’t sound so good. And I was like, grabe, wa pa gani ko kasulod and they are already creating an image of me,” she laments.

With that, she would have a hard time proving her worth as some has prejudged her personality already.

She maintains that she doesn’t have regrets with her decision to step out of the competition.

“I cannot change myself just for the game. I’d rather be myself. PBB is not my game,” she affirms.

She admits, though, that if only she had known the number of people who have supported her, she would have reconsidered her decision. She shares with a laugh that her lolo heard mass three times in one day after she was spared from being evicted, only to find out that she would make a voluntary exit a few hours later. 

“If only I knew I was loved and cared this way outside. But sayang man sad gud, if mag-sige ko og ka-nominate sa mga housemates, mag-sige sila og vote nako. Gasto kaayo. Mura baya’g ako ang maka-benefit,” she says.

Indeed, there’s no turning back for Princess. She’s out of her “fantasy castle” and is back in the real world.

So, what’s next for Princess?

Behind the scenes

Aside from waiting for what will come out with her budding romance with fellow housemate Tom Mott, which was cut short by her exit, Princess is looking into taking lessons in Theater and Filmmaking.

Before she left for Japan, she enrolled in BS Psychology for three semesters in Southwestern University. She admits regretting not being able to finish her education. “I’ve always been in the theatre. My passion is acting. But I’d also want to do filmmaking, as things are also interesting behind the camera,” she says.

As for showbiz? Well, she’s open to it, minus the “corny, cheesy” type.

She also wants to do something for the community, citing the influence of her grandparents who were into local politics.

She’s eyeing to help out in the HIV Awareness Campaign this December, do outreach programs for the children, and come up with a documentary that depicts the heroic lives of Filipino women in Japan.

Time can only tell what’s in store for Princess. But with the fighter in her, a happily-ever-after shouldn’t be a farfetched reality.