MANILA, Philippines — The campaign has yet to officially begin, but Edu Manzano’s inclusion in the administration ticket as vice presidential hopeful has already brought a show biz flavor to it.

News of Manzano’s breakup with his fiancée, TV anchor Pinky Webb, was the subject of hushed talk at Thursday’s Lakas-Kampi-CMD national convention at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

And the 54-year-old actor and game show host could not dodge questions on the matter following a speech he delivered before some 3,000 party mates.

Manzano confirmed that he had broken up with Webb. But he declined to elaborate.

“Unfortunately, that is true. You said ‘sorry.’ Yes, I am sorry too,” he told reporters, one of whom apologized for asking about his love life in the middle of a political convention.

“The personal aspect, I think we should keep to ourselves. I don’t think it’s going to have a real … impact on the campaign,” he said, adding:

“Some things will just not go the way we planned it, but you sometimes have … to play the cards you’re dealt.”

‘Daunting challenge’

In his acceptance speech, Manzano described his planned run as “a daunting challenge that I find most difficult to reject.”

“I did not seek this position,” he said. “This nomination is the culmination of a series of meetings and discussions with persons I highly respect and who believe that I have what it takes—not only to help the party achieve victory, but [also] to make a truly meaningful contribution toward changing for the better the social and economic landscape of our country.”

“Please allow me to declare clearly and categorically that I have never turned my back on any call to serve our country and people,” he added.

Asked if the breakup with Webb had something to do with his decision to run for vice president, Manzano said: “No, I wouldn’t say that.”

Conflict of interest

But a source close to the couple said the breakup could have been intended to avoid conflict of interest over Webb’s being an employee of the ABS-CBN broadcasting network.

“It’s possible that Pinky decided to break up with Edu because she didn’t want to do a Korina Sanchez,” said the source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the subject.

Sanchez, ABS-CBN chief of correspondents and program host, went on a leave of absence in May.

She was then engaged to marry Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, who was then planning to run for president under the Liberal Party.

The couple got married on Oct. 27. Roxas is now the running mate of LP standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III.

Webb is one of the hosts of “XXX” and “Umagang Kay Ganda” on Channel 2 and an anchor of the noon news program on ANC.

She has not been reporting for work since Monday, according to Maria Ressa, ABS-CBN senior vice president for news and current affairs.

“We were together on Friday,” Ressa said in a phone interview Thursday night. “That’s when we all found out Edu was running for vice president. Pinky was shocked. Over the weekend, she asked me for a leave. I said she should [go on leave]. She needed to sort things out.”

No memo

The source said Webb’s work was “important to her.”

“She didn’t want to be forced to take a break while her fiance is campaigning. [Continuing to work in that case is not allowed at] ABS-CBN,” the source said.

Ressa denied that she had issued a memo ordering Webb to go on leave: “There was no memo. Any journalist tries to avoid conflict … We’re very careful about it. However, I didn’t want to talk to her about it at that point. She was really upset.”

A close friend of Manzano’s said he had been “very quiet” and “not his usual self” since the breakup.

“Of course he’s sad,” the friend said. “He just has so much on his mind right now—attending meetings left and right—that he doesn’t have time to deal with the issue just yet.”

In an interview with Tina Monzon-Palma on ANC’s “Talkback,” Manzano said his decision to run for vice president came as a shock to Webb.

But she assured him of her support, he said.