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Late Tuesday afternoon, reports about the child star Jiro Manio living in terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport erupted in social media.
According to this Inquirer.net report, the country’s youngest multi-awarded actor has been staying put at NAIA T3 for four days, living through kindness of strangers, mostly of employees.
It was NAIA terminal 3 security guard Frank Sorca who first recognized the actor. He also gave him food, clean clothes, and personal care items.
“But he only used the clothes and took the food, refusing to bathe, clean himself or even cut his nails,” notes Jeannette I. Andrade on the Inquirer report.
According to the report, the actor didn’t know why strangers were being kind to him. He also denied he was an actor.
“Hindi ako artista,” he told ABS-CBNnews.com.
Airport security quickly moved and took Manio into custody and as of Tuesday night, were only waiting for his aunt and a few relatives to pick him up.
Apparently, this isn’t the first time. According to director Maryo delos Reyes, his former ward was also seen wandering around Balintawak in 2014.
Delos Reyes also confirmed with ABS-CBNnews, that Manio had already gone to drug rehab twice. The first, in 2011, was spearheaded by the director. In 2014, the 23-year-old former actor went into rehab for the second time.
In the same ABS-CBN story, Manio’s foster father, Andrew Manio admitted that the father and son had an altercation over the weekend.
Says delos Reyes, “A strong institutional support will help the actor. Jiro needs pyshciatric help.”
While waiting for his relatives to pick him up, the airport medical staff checked up on and treated Manio for his scratches, bruises, and wounds. According to a separate Inquirer report by Nestor Corrales, “Manio requested that he be placed in an isolated room with no media interview.”
Photo: Screengrab/ABS-CBN video
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