Isko: I have nothing to be ashamed of

MANILA, Philippines – Less 15 pounds and a tad darker, no thanks to the strenuous campaign that has brought him to every nook and cranny of the country, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno acknowledged showbiz as his stepping stone to where he is now…a long night’s journey into day that started in the slums of Tondo to the world of showbiz to the august halls of Manila City Hall.

“Up to now,” confessed Isko during a thanksgiving lunch with movie writers the other day at Annabel’s, “it’s still showbiz that is carrying me on; napapakinabangan ko pa rin ang showbiz,” making special mention of German “Kuya Germs” Moreno who discovered him.

Isko is running for senator (he’s #13). According to Isko, in his sorties, people in the 40-50 age range recognize him from his That’s Entertainment days.

“But those ages 18 to 30 know me more as Manila Vice Mayor,” said Isko who served nine years as councilor before he reached that position.

Born on Oct. 24, 1974, in Parola, Tondo, Manila, to Rosario Moreno (of Allen, Northern Samar) and Joaquin Domagoso (of San Jose, Antique), Isko chronicles the hardships and sufferings he has gone through in his radio/TV plug that he calls “Alam Ko Po ‘Yon” which has caught the fancy of the common tao.

“I mix with the poor and they tell me, ‘alam din po namin ‘yon’, and it touches me,” confessed Isko. “Being poor is not a crime. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

 Incidentally, Isko’s nude pictures taken more than 20 years ago when he was starting in showbiz have resurfaced on social media, as they always do every time election campaign comes around.

“I have nothing to be ashamed of,” said Isko, “wala akong dapat ikahiya. Those pictures were taken on the set of a movie I was then making,” adding in jest, when asked about the size, “it hasn’t changed, only my body has changed.”

Is that picture real or was it photo-shopped?

Isko made no comment.

Whatever is the result in the Monday (May 9) elections, Isko has a fallback plan: 1) to host a talk show, 2) to produce and star in indie films, and 3) to teach.

After all, he has the credentials, among them: chosen by the US State Department to attend the International Visitors Leadership Program in 2011; alumnus of the 2012 John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard under the Executive Education Program; alumnus of SAID Business School in 2013 at Oxford University in England under the Oxford Strategic Leadership Program; and invited as part of Emerging Leaders Executive Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Governance in Harvard.

In 2011, Isko was voted one of PeopleAsia’s Men Who Matter.