Manuel "Manoling" Lim Morato (November 17, 1933 – July 30, 2021) was a Filipino politician and television host who previously served as chairperson of both the

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (English: "For Intelligent and Responsible Viewing") , employees = More than 33 , chief1_name = Diorella Maria Sotto-Antonio , chief1_position = Chairperson , agency_type = Film and television classification , parent_agency ...

(MTRCB) and the

Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO, fil, Tanggapan sa Charity Sweepstakes ng Pilipinas) is a government-owned and controlled corporation of the Philippines under direct supervision of the Office of the President of the Philippines. ...

(PCSO).

Early life and family

Manuel Morato was born on November 17, 1933, the eldest son of

Tomás Morató Tomás Eduardo Morató Bernabéu (; July 4, 1887 – March 6, 1965) was a Spanish-born Filipino businessman and politician of Valencian ethnicity and full-blooded Spanish descent who became Mayor of Calauag, Quezon before he became the firs ...

, who became the first

Mayor of Quezon City The mayor of Quezon City ( fil, Punong Lungsod ng Quezon) is the head of the executive branch of Quezon City's government. The mayor holds office at the Quezon City Hall. Like all local government heads in the Philippines, the mayor is elected v ...

, and Consuelo Eclavea Lim. He would later have 11 other siblings, including a brother, Francisco, who is a doctor and lawyer, and a sister, Elvira, the mother of actor

Jake Cuenca Juan Carlos Cuenca (; born December 30, 1987) popularly known as Jake Cuenca is a Filipino-American actor and model. Born in San Jose, California and was raised in Manila, Philippines. He also played for United Football League Division 2 sides ...

. In 2019, Morato and his siblings were involved in a dispute over their family's ancestral home at 99 Scout Gandia Street in Quezon City, allegedly because the property had been sold to a developer by his youngest brother, José ("Pepito"), without the other siblings agreeing to the sale.

In government

In the 1992 elections, Morato ran for the position of

Philippine senator The Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives as ...

but lost. In the 1998 elections, he founded the ''Partido Bansang Marangal'' (Noble Nation Party) and ran for the office of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

with

Camilo Sabio Camilo Sabio (born June 16, 1936) is a public lawyer and past chairman of the Philippines' Presidential Commission on Good Government. He previously held the position of Secretary-General in the Philippine House of Representatives from 1992 to 19 ...

as his running mate, but lost. He lost to his nemesis, then-

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice preside ...

, earning last place in the results. In the

2001 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2001. Africa * 2001 Beninese presidential election * 2001 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 2001 Cape Verdean presidential election * 2001 Chadian presidential election * 2001 Gabonese legislat ...

, together with Sabio, he ran for the position of

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and again lost.

TV shows and movies

Morato hosted a weekly talk show ''Dial-M'' with former actress

Maggie de la Riva Magdalena "Maggie" de la Riva (born September 3, 1942), a 24-year-old actress and host, was abducted from in front of her home in New Manila, Quezon City on June 26, 1967, by four men, all of whom were sons of influential families, and taken to a ...

on state-owned National Broadcasting Network (now PTV 4). The show was initially for lotto draw results but he decided to add his commentaries and viewer phone calls. One of its episodes featured a security camera video showing

gambling in a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

. The show was cut off in 1998 when Estrada ascended to the presidency and was returned in 2004 when Arroyo appointed him as board director of the PCSO. His life was filmed in 1998, before the Philippine centennial celebrations, with the role portrayed by actor Joel Torre. In August 2011, he was charged with four counts of election offences, accusing him of using his television show to campaign for

Gilbert Teodoro Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. (born June 14, 1964), nicknamed Gilbert or Gibo (), is a Filipino lawyer, politician and business executive who served as the Secretary of National Defense from 2007 to 2009 under President Glori ...

Senate hearings on PCSO corruption

In 2011, the Philippine Senate uncovered the fact that under Morato, the PCSO never assisted any non-Catholic religious organizations. Morato said that other religions are also allowed to request the same type of assistance from the PCSO, but could not name any non-Catholic religious organizations or leaders who received similar donations from the PCSO.

Death

Morato died of complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on July 30, 2021, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morato, Manoling 1933 births 2021 deaths Candidates in the 1998 Philippine presidential election People from Quezon City Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians Partido Bansang Marangal politicians Heads of government-owned and controlled corporations of the Philippines Corazon Aquino administration personnel Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines