Jiro Manio reunited with family after roaming NAIA for days

Jiro Manio (screengrab from ABS-CBN interview)

MANILA — For four days, former child star Jiro Manio roamed around Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) looking for shelter and living off the alms of kind-hearted strangers.

Photos of homeless Manio went viral on social media. In the photos, the 23-year-old actor was seen wearing a worn-out shirt and a dirty pair of shorts, a towel slung over one shoulder.

According to NAIA employees, Manio has been roaming around the airport and wanders near the fast food chains for food. The employees decided to chip in to give Manio some food. Some employees also gave him clean clothes to wear.

In a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, airport security personnel Frank Sorca said in Filipino, “He looked as if he hasn’t had a decent meal and his clothes were dirty.”

According to Sorca, Manio said he left home and has no plans of leaving the airport in fear of his enemies. Upon observation, bruises and scratches were seen on the young actor’s body. Sorca said he looked like as if he was beaten up.

Sorca implied that Manio might me mentally unstable after saying that Manio constantly changes his stories and answers. Sorca also said that Manio denied that he’s an actor, saying that he only looked like the child star.

Reunited with Family
Upon receiving information that Manio was roaming around the airport, he was taken into custody by airport police.

By Wednesday morning, NAIA Terminal 3 manager Octovio Lina confirmed to the media that Manio was reunited and turned over to his family.

According to an ABS-CBN report, Dr. Yolanda Miranda checked Manio’s bruises and scratches and was given a clean bill of health prior to release.

Lina also allowed Manio to use the airport’s bathroom facilities and was given a clean set of clothes before he was reunited with his family.

“All of us have a moral obligation to help any person in distress and Jiro is such a young and wonderful boy that he deserved a second chance,” Lina said in the same ABS-CBN report.

Stellar Career
In 2001, then 9-year-old Manio won the Best Child Performer Award in the Metro Manila Film Festival for his role in the movie “Bagong Buwan.” When he was 12, he won two Best Actor awards — Famas and Gawad Urian — for the movie “Magnifico.”

Manio also starred in two “Tanging Ina” movies. He was also a regular cast of ABS-CBN primetime hit “Tayong Dalawa” with Kim Chiu, Jake Cuenca, and Gerald Anderson in 2009 and the original series “Pangako Sa ‘Yo” in 2000.