'PBB': Brent Manalo talks about academic cheating incident from high school

Brent Manalo's biggest mistake is cheating — on a high school quiz.

The actor made the confession during the latest episode of “Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition” after Kuya asked him about the biggest mistake he committed.

“‘Yung mga friends ko from the other sections, sila ‘yung unang nag-quiz and mayroon po kaming mga quiz booklet. Tas ginawa ko po, Kuya. Pumunta po ako sa mga ibang section, sa mga friends ko. Sinilip ko po ‘yung quiz booklet nila,” Brent recalled.

“Hindi ko naman talaga nagamit ‘yung mga answers, Kuya, kasi I don’t even remember," he added.

However, some students told the teachers about what he did.

"The next day, nag-start na akong paringgan, may mga status na akong nababasa regarding sa cheating. It went on for days, Kuya, ‘yung pagpapahiya nila sa akin,” he said.

Brent didn’t want to burden his parents, but made up for the mistake by working harder in school. He ended up graduating as valedictorian of their batch.

“Ayokong isipin nila na may pagkukulang sila, Kuya, kasi it was my own mistake. It really changed my life and I’m glad that happened,” Brent said.

“Sila mismo, pakiramdam ko they carry so much, Kuya, they handle so many problems. Ayoko na po sanang makadagdag. Kahit papaano ‘yun na po ‘yung tulong ko po sa kanila. Alam ko po ‘yung naturo sa akin bilang panganay kailangan kong maging matatag, Kuya. So, I did really try to. I made all my problems seem so small.”

Kuya has some words of wisdom for the Kapamilya star: “Brent, naintindihan ko ang pinagdaanan mo. Marahil nabigatan ang younger self mo sa kinailangan niyang harapin. You had to grow up a bit faster to give yourself a chance.”

“Hindi lahat ng tao magugustuhan tayo at kahit magustuhan nila tayo, minsan nila tayo maintindihan pero palagay ko ang pagkakaiba-iba natin ‘yun ang bagay kung bakit tayo espesyal at sasabihin ko sa ‘yo espesyal ka, Brent, dahil may mabuti kang puso,” he added.

Brent graduated from De La Salle University with flying colors as cum laude with a degree in advertising management in 2018.

His post wearing his medal and toga went viral online and would catapult his career in showbiz.

“Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition” airs new episodes on GMA Network at 10 p.m. weekdays and at 6:15 p.m. on weekends. —JCB, GMA Integrated News