ACTOR-politician Edu Manzano yesterday endorsed former Commission on Audit (COA) commissioner by posting a chain message on his official Facebook page calling on his one million followers to support her senatorial candidacy.
The former Makati City vice mayor said he decided to back Mendoza because of her track record against fighting corruption in public office and advocacy for good governance.
He said he admires the former COA commissioner for choosing to remain independent in her Senate run even if it meant losing potential boost from political machineries, funding, and paid advertisements.
“She is not an actor. She has no ads. She doesn’t have the millions to run a campaign, no party machinery, no big political patron. But she has that one thing that money can’t buy: integrity,” Manzano said.
“I am humbled, grateful. Salamat Edu Manzano,” Mendoza said in reaction to the endorsement, tagging the veteran actor in her FB post.
To maximize the dispersal of his post, Manzano requested all his supporters to pass his endorsement of Mendoza on their own pages. Eight hours after posting, it has gathered 2,200 shares and 4,500 reactions.
He also called on voters to look closer at Mendoza’s credentials, noting her work as auditor for the United Nations General Assembly and for exposing corruption in the military and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or congressional pork barrel.
“If you are fed up with actors in the Senate, offsprings of old politicians, and defenders of the pork barrel system, here is your chance to change all that. In her long battle against corruption, she has likely completed more audits compared to your ‘Likes’ for your selfies,” he added.
Manzano said he believes Mendoza can be instrumental in reducing corruption in government and promoting transparency should she win a seat in the Senate.
“Your future can be stolen from you if you vote for the wrong people. With Heidi Mendoza you get someone who is honest, competent, courageous, and transparent. Perhaps you can forward this to help one who has already done much for our country,” he said.
Also yesterday, mock polls results from two Metro Manila-based universities showed Mendoza landing in the top four in both the University of the East Dawn Pre-election survey and the Boto Historyador 2025 Midterm Mock Election held among Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) – Department of History students.
Ahead of her were former senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino and labor leader Luke Espiritu of the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM).
