Joel Guinto, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/02/neilgrace-050216.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Neil Llamanzares stands beside Sen. Grace Poe during the declaration of her presidential bid at the UP Bahay ng Alumni on September 16, 2015. <em>Poe-Escudero Media Bureau</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><address><em><strong>PROFILES: The next First Lady or First Gentleman</strong></em></address><address><em>Regardless of who wins among the 5 presidential candidates, Malacanang is going to welcome a much bigger First Family as bachelor President Benigno Simeon Aquino III bows out of office on June 30, 2016.</em></address><address><em>The Philippines will either have another First Gentleman if Senator Grace Poe or Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago wins, a First Lady if Vice President Jojo Binay or former DILG chief Mar Roxas makes it, or a daughter as First Lady if Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte succeeds.</em></address><address><em>What role the next First Lady or First Gentleman will play and how well (or bad) he or she performs will impact on the Philippine presidency. Will he or she be like an Imelda Marcos, a Ming Ramos, a Loi Ejercito, a Mike Arroyo, or the Aquino sisters?</em></address><address><em><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com" target="_blank">News.abs-cbn.com</a> takes a look at the women and men who may soon be moving into the Palace as First Lady or First Gentleman.</em><br/> </address><p>Neil Llamanzares disappeared under a rain of blue and white confetti when his former high school sweetheart, Sen. Grace Poe, stepped into the spotlight and announced her presidential candidacy in September.</p><p>The burly and bespectacled 46-year-old is always a few steps behind but never too far to come to the rescue of his wife of 25 years when she needs it. It&#x27;s the behind-the-scenes role that Llamanzares hopes to take on in case Poe wins the cutthroat May 9 vote.</p><p>&quot;My father will take a low-profile role, as he has always maintained. He will continue to give good counsel to my mom,&quot; the couple&#x27;s eldest son Brian Llamanzares told ABS-CBN News.</p><p>&quot;He has a strong sense of self-worth so he won&#x27;t be intimidated by having a wife who is president. He will always adhere to what is honorable, proper and decent,&quot; the 26-year-old former television reporter added.</p><p>Llamanzares, who speaks straight Tagalog but with a slight American twang, has become an easy target for critics who claim Poe&#x27;s holding of a US citizenship in the past made her unfit to become president.</p><div><q>My father is a hands-on and caring dad to me and my sisters, and is very supportive of my mom. - Brian Llamanzares</q></div><p>The former member of the United States <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/halalan2016/nation/04/08/16/poe-confirms-husband-worked-with-us-air-force">Air Force</a>, who has also worked as a consultant for local conglomerate San Miguel Corp., has begun a process to renounce his American citizenship, following the senator&#x27;s lead.</p><div><strong>LOVE STORY</strong></div><p>Poe and Llamanzares met on a Manila tennis court as teens and the sheltered Llamanzares did not know that he was pursuing the only daughter of the country&#x27;s most popular movie stars, the couple said in a television interview in 2013, after Poe topped that year&#x27;s senatorial election.</p><p>Llamanzares recalled the day he met Fernando Poe Jr., who was then at their height of his career, having starred in numerous action films that portrayed him as the defender of the poor with a gun that never ran out of bullets.</p><p>&quot;When he came down the steps, FPJ was larger than life. Medyo nawalan ako ng hininga. He is a really big person, I shook his hand, kalahati lang ng kamay niya yung kamay ko,&quot; he said.</p><p>The couple said they moved to the United States to raise a family to prove to their parents that they could stand on their own.</p><p>&quot;She’s kind of a superwoman; beside being a mom, she was a teacher she worked at a bank, she became a product specialist at a scientific company, she was still driving the kids around, cooking, baking, cleaning the house, bathing the dog,&quot; he said.</p><p>The couple has two other daughters, Nikka and Hanna.</p><p>&quot;My father is a hands-on and caring dad to me and my sisters, and is very supportive of my mom,&quot; according to eldest son Brian.</p><script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1/jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://abscbnnewsml.blob.core.windows.net/videos/scripts/js/galleria-1.4.2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">var jQuery_1_2_9 = $.noConflict(true);(function($){ }(jQuery_1_2_9))</script><div class="galleria"><a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/02/llamanzares-050216.jpg"><img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/02/llamanzares-050216.jpg" data-description="Sen. Grace Poe" s="" Facebook="" data-title="The Llamanzares Family." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/02/llamanzares-050216.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg1.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg1.jpg" data-description="Poe-Escudero Media Bureau" data-title="Neil Llamanzares shows support during  Sen. Grace Poe" s="" declaration="" of="" candidacy="" at="" the="" UP="" Bahay="" ng="" Alumni="" on="" September="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg1.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg2.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg2.jpg" data-description="Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" data-title="Neil Llamanzares with son Brian and mother-in-law Susan Roces shows support to  Sen. Grace Poe during the declaration of her presidential bid at the UP Bahay ng Alumni on September 16, 2015." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg2.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg3.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg3.jpg" data-description="Poe-Escudero Media Bureau" data-title="Neil Llamanzares stands beside  Sen. Grace Poe during the declaration of her presidential bid at the UP Bahay ng Alumni on September 16, 2015." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg3.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg4.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg4.jpg" data-description="Sen. Grace Poe" s="" Facebook="" data-title="The Llamanzares Family." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg4.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg5.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg5.jpg" data-description="Sen. Grace Poe" s="" Facebook="" data-title="Sen. Grace Poe  joins husband  Neil Llamanzares and son Brian as they visit the Philippine Senate." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg5.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg6.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg6.jpg" data-description="Photo by Josh Albelda for ABS-CBN News" data-title="Senator Grace Poe and family pose for media at the 6th SONA at the House of Representatives on July 27, 2015." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg6.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg7.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg7.jpg" data-description="Sen. Poe" s="" Facebook="" data-title="A photo collage of Neil Llamanzares and Sen. Grace Poe." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg7.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg8.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg8.jpg" data-description="Sen. Poe" s="" Instagram="" data-title="Neil Llamanzares with Sen, Grace Poe and son Brian attends the Star Magic Ball." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg8.jpg"/> </a> <a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg9.jpg"> <img data-big="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg9.jpg" data-description="Sen. Poe" s="" Facebook="" data-title="The Llamanzares Family." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2016/nation2/05/03/poeimg9.jpg"/> </a></div><script type="text/javascript">Galleria.loadTheme('http://abscbnnewsml.blob.core.windows.net/videos/scripts/js/galleria.azur.min.js');Galleria.run('.galleria', {trueFullscreen: true,height: 400,});	</script><p>&quot;He is our family&#x27;s anchor and source of strength. We look up to him as a very principled and down-to-earth man who is always there for us,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>CAMPAIGN HAND</strong></div><p>Poe had not spoken publicly about her husband&#x27;s role in her presidential campaign, but during her 2013 candidacy, she said he was in charge of finances and campaign ads.</p><p>She recalled coming home an &quot;emotional wreck&quot; many times during the 2013 campaign, but it was her husband&#x27;s support that got her through.</p><p>&quot;Ang swerte ko, matiyaga ang aking asawa pinagbibigyan niya ang aking mga kahinaan... Kung hindi dahil sa kanya, hindi ko matatagalan yun,&quot; she said in the same television interview in 2013.</p><p>If Poe wins, it will be second time that an incumbent president has a male spouse. Former President Gloria Arroyo&#x27;s husband, lawyer Jose Miguel Arroyo, took on the title of First Gentleman.</p><p>Mr. Arroyo was initially active in outreach programs until he was dragged into numerous corruption controversies. He is also accused of helping rig the 2004 elections to help his wife defeat Poe&#x27;s movie star father.</p>

News.abs-cbn.com takes a look at the women and men who may soon be moving into the Palace as First Lady or First Gentleman. In the first of the series, let us look at Neil Llamanzares, the First Gentleman if Senator Grace Poe wins.

Poe's high school sweetheart eyes 'low profile' First Gentleman role

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

Focus

Poe's high school sweetheart eyes 'low profile' First Gentleman role

Joel Guinto,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 02, 2016 08:37 PM PHT

|

Updated May 04, 2016 11:42 AM PHT

Read More:

First Spouses

Grace Poe

Neil Llamanzares

elections

Halalan2016

First Gentleman

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.