SINGAPORE—Malacañang on Saturday threw its support behind the administration’s choice of vice presidential candidate, describing actor-TV host Edu Manzano as “intelligent” owing to his experience as a game-show host.

“Allow me to be flippant about this: If you are a game show host, you should be intelligent,” Press Secretary Cerge Remonde told reporters on the sidelines of of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) summit here.

Remonde said Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, the administration’s standard-bearer, found a “perfect partner” in Manzano in the context of the ruling party’s attempt at a “makeover.”

“Let’s face it. The party in power is always fairly or unfairly being [perceived as a] traditional party or a party of older men. That is precisely why the party right now is determined to put fresh leadership,” he said.

Remonde described Manzano as an “efficient and dedicated official” when he chaired the Optical Media Board.