It was a Sunday, but TV host and celebrity endorser Luis Manzano was working. Not that he minds, but he must.
“Everything is really expensive these days,” Luis maintained. “I know Sunday is a family day, but Shakey’s has been a part of my family for so long. So even if it’s a Sunday, I will find time to be with my Shakey’s family for something as big as this.”
The start of Luis’ 2024 is undoubtedly exciting and readily busy with more work. “No one has a perfect start,” he insisted. “You will always have your ups and downs, but you will have more months, more days, to correct whatever the fault was.”
“It’s a lot of happiness for me for 2024. Of course, when I have more work, that will extend to my family.”
His one-year-old daughter, Peanut, is not a high-maintenance baby. “She’s the easiest baby,” said the dad. “In fact, on the way here, we were doing voice call and she is excited to see me home again.”
He and his wife, Jessy Mendiola, make it a point to be home when they don’t have work outside. “Most of the time, one of us really stays home to be with Peanut,” he offered. “There are days when both of us needed to be out for work.
“We couldn’t avoid that. But we have trustworthy household help that we really depend on and they take care of Peanut.”
His wife, Jessy, is ready to make her showbiz comeback, after being sidelined by marriage, pregnancy and motherhood.
“She missed the industry,” Luis shared. “She misses the craft and the people in the industry. So whatever it is that she wants to do, if she wants to do a teleserye or a movie, whatever the offers are.”
“In fact, based on the first few weeks of the year, it looks like it’s going to be a busy 2024 for her. A lot of offers came her way, but she’s always giving a bit of allowance to spend time with Peanut. Everything having Peanut shifts our priorities.”
Luis didn’t give any restrictions or make special requests to Jessy when it comes to returning to showbiz to resume her career. He will allow his wife to return in front of the cameras.
“Seriously, she can do whatever she wants,” he said. “If it will give her artistic fulfillment in that road and she will be happy, by all means, go ahead. I will never, never argue with that.”
“I grew up in the environment where my mom would do bed scenes, kissing scenes. I fully understood that it’s for her craft. I will do the same for Jessy. I am saying this because at 42, I am also ready for mature roles (laughed).”
Meanwhile, when it comes to Peanut venturing into a showbiz career, Luis will welcome it that his daughter will try.
“In fact, she already had two endorsements to date,” he disclosed. “But in terms of acting, I would love for her to try, but I wouldn’t pressure her to try.”
“If she tells us, ‘Papa or Mama, I don’t like anymore.’ By all means. But she can say that she tried.”
Luis and Jessy still have contractual obligations. So they are not trying to have another baby. “Hopefully in a year or two, Peanut will become an ate.”
Luis is very proud that his mom, Star for All Seasons Vilma Santos, snagged yet another Best Actress trophy in the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) for “When I Met You in Tokyo,” opposite Christopher de Leon.
“I’m very, very happy for her,” Luis said of his mom. “They just returned from Bangkok (Thailand). She was with her siblings. The trip was priceless for them.”
He didn’t confirm, though, that his mom will return to showbiz full-time. “She’s happy vlogging,” he said. “It’s a different persona that she gives as a public servant and as an artist. Maybe, she can do it step by step.”
“She can do more movies, a series or even a sitcom, for a change. I got word that she is being offered a sitcom or an action movie. She can also find fulfillment to be in politics again.”
As far as his career is concerned, Luis will have game shows again. He is open to doing another big screen project. His last full-length appearance on the big screen was director Wenn Deramas’ comedy flick, “Moron 5.2: The Transformation” (2014).
So, what does he intend to manifest this 2024?
“All the positivity in the world, except COVID,” he smiled. “Whatever that entails — a happy home, a happy work life, a happy family life. That’s what I want to manifest this 2024.”
“This sounds very ‘Pilipinas Got Talent,’ but ‘expect the unexpected.’ So many things happened in 2023 that I never thought would happen in my entire life. Life is all about the curve balls. The question is how you bounce back from a lot of things.”