As the popular saying “You Only Live Once” goes, Board Member Dante Manalaysay is a perfect living example of it as he embraces everything that has come his way, and pours his heart into it.
He is a graduate of M. Delos Reyes Elementary School and Arellano Memorial High School before he took up BS in Business Administration in the University of the East.
He started working at BRB Marketing while he was still studying but right after he graduated from college, he worked at Republic Bank as a teller and rose from the ranks and became a bookkeeper. After that, he became a contractor in a construction business up to this date. While being a contractor, he also entered the world of politics in 1998. It wasn’t in a very normal way when he entered politics, because while he was just in a circle of politicians and quietly helping in an event, one man said to him “halika, isalang kita. Kulang ng isa, ikaw na lang.” And then his career as a public servant started.
He didn’t think twice on agreeing to that man. He took a chance, win or lose, he will run for the position of Board Member. Fortunately, all odds were on his favor. He won the position and served as a Board Member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for 9 consecutive years. After being a Board Member, he ran as City Councilor of Balanga City and also successfully served the city for 3 years. He then came back to being a Board Member in 2010 up to now.
Currently, he doesn’t chair any of the committees. But he is the Vice Chairman of the Committees on Infrastructure, Cooperatives, and Peace & Order. “Pa-out na ko, gusto ko naman ma-challenge sila,” he said. Since this is his last term, he wants others to experience what he has experienced in the past years of his service.
For him, helping other people is what he considers as his most significant accomplishment. He even boasted that he is rich in friends, and that material things don’t really matter. So, for every person he meets, he makes sure that he leaves a good impression to them or even help them when they are in need. Because for him, relationships with other people really matter.
“Habang malakas pa ako, magsasaya ako,” he said as we reach the interview’s end. He said that whatever comes his way, he will just grab it with arms wide open, and embrace fully what it will do with his life because we only have a limited time living in this world.
As a person who responds positively on every change that has come to his life with a big smile on his face, all I can say is this: I salute you, BM Manalaysay. A person like you doesn’t deserve just one life, but more.
