All sorts of rumors have been cropping up since Makati Vice-Mayor Edu Manzano got involved -- and was seriously hurt -- in an accident that happened on the set of his latest movie, Millennium Cinema's Minsan Ko Lang Sasabihin (topbilled by Bong Revilla, with Edu as the kontravida and Judy Ann Santos as leading lady), last Sunday afternoon (May 14) in Escolta.
1. Edu is in coma (reportedly being spread by his political opponents)
2. Edu has lost an arm and/or a leg, and
3. Edu will be paralyzed for life
The truth, according to Edu's manager (and Nanay-Nanayan) June T. Rufino, is that Edu is safe, but... And that's the big but.
"He's still undergoing tests and is under close observation," added June, "although he's now out of the hospital. He has no choice but to check out because at the hospital, even if there was a 'No Visitors Allowed' sign at the door, visitors and wellwishers kept on coming, staying until way past midnight, so Edu could not rest. He's now resting and recuperating in an undisclosed place."
There.
Edu is not in coma.
Edu didn't lose an arm or a leg.
Edu won't be paralyzed for life.
"He was just a foot away from the grave," June quoted witnesses (including Cavite Gov. Bong Revilla) to the accident where a car, driven by a "double" (for Bong) drove over a truck full of bottled mineral water and wrongly landed on the side of Edu who was astride a motorbike (steady on a platform attached to a jeep) on the other side, dragging Edu in-between the truck and the motorbike.
He suffered head and neck injuries which require further observation, bruises and contusions, and a severe whiplash injury. He needs to have complete therapy, more intensive than the one he underwent for a spinal column injury he suffered in a similar accident while shooting a movie with Cynthia Luster a few years ago.
"Edu is grateful to Bong (also the line-producer of Minsan) who rushed him to the Makati Med and who checked on him everyday and to friends (San Juan Mayor) Jinggoy Estrada, Phillip Salvador, Rudy Fernandez and Judy Ann who visited him at the hospital soon after he was brought there," said June. "Friends from the movie industry also checked on Edu, along with Makati residents, and Makati City Hall employees who sent him get-well text messages and prayers."
Edu's family abroad was worried after they read in the Internet that he was paralyzed and in coma. Now they can rest assured.
Effective tomorrow, Carlos Agassi is joining Keep on Dancing (ABS-CBN, 10 to 11 p.m. Saturday nights) as co-host (of Charlene Gonzales, Troy Montero and Franco Laurel), replacing Mark Nelson who has quit the show and went back to Australia after the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) declared him an alien. Mark jumped the gun on BID and left before he could be deported, leaving very sad his fans who have learned to love and care for Mark as one of them, a kapatid.
"Not only will I do a lot of dancing," said Carlos, The Amir of Rap (Amir is Arabic for Prince), "which I enjoy as much as rapping, I will also get to work with Charlene. It's a bonus."
Aside from Keep On Dancing and his regular Sunday show A.S.A.P., Carlos is also busy preparing for the Metropop Finals Night on May 27. He joins the illustrious line-up of interpreters for Metropop 2000, performing Baby Be Mine (composed by Jeffrey Hidalgo) with Arnie Hidalgo who, with Jeffrey, likewise joins Carlos as guests in his album.
The Amir of Rap, Carlos' debut album, features 12 interesting dance, R&B and novelty cuts, with guests Zsa Zsa Padilla, Jolina Magdangal, Diether Ocampo, Troy Montero and 92 AD. Vanessa Del Bianco guests in the album's carrier single, Magpakatotoo. The album is produced by Star Records.