Taekwondo practitioner, martial arts actor
Manuel Monsour Tabib del Rosario III (born May 11, 1962) is a Filipino actor, martial artist, producer, businessman, and politician. He is popularly known as a Filipino taekwondo champion and actor who starred in several Filipino and international action films. He is the Secretary General of the Philippine Taekwondo Association and a member of the Philippine Olympic National Sports Association Martial Arts Council. He has also served as a city councilor from the 1st district of Makati from 2010 to 2016 and later as congressman representing the same district from 2016 to 2019.
Biography.
Del Rosario was born in Manila and grew up in Bacolod, his family's hometown. He moved to Makati in 1979. His mother is Lebanese. His uncle was businessman and former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario.
He first learned martial arts under Joe Lopez-Vito, a Moo Duk Kwan system of Tang Soo Do practitioner. After he returned to Manila for his high school education, del Rosario shifted to taekwondo in 1977 as a student of Hong Sung-Chon (who is known as a "Father of Philippine Taekwondo"). Under Master Hong, del Rosario attained a Korean 8th Dan taekwondo black belt. He is a graduate of De La Salle University - Manila.
Del Rosario became a member of the Philippine national taekwondo team from 1982 until 1989, serving as the team's captain in his last four years on the team.
He was ranked first in the Philippines in the Lightweight Division while he was on the team, and was an eight-time National Lightweight champion. From 1982 to 1989, he competed in several international competitions, including the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Games, the World Games, the World Taekwondo Championships and the Asian Taekwondo Championships. He earned a gold medal in the 14th and 15th Southeast Asian Games, a bronze medal in the 10th Asian Games, and reached the quarterfinal round during the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
Along with Stephen Fernandez, del Rosario established the Olympians Taekwondo Training Center, a taekwondo dojang (school) in Taguig.
Personal life.
Del Rosario is married to Joy Zapanta. She suffered a miscarriage to their twins but later gave birth to their son Matthew in 2006 and daughter Isabella, who is also a taekwondo athlete.
Acting career.
Del Rosario appeared in Filipino action films as early as 1986. Among his more notable starring roles was in "Bangis" (1995), "Buhawi Jack" (1998) and "Pintado" (2000). He appeared in several international film productions, such as "Demonstone" (1989), "Bloodfist 2" (1990), "Techno Warriors" (1998) working alongside international martial artist Darren Shahlavi, "When Eagles Strike" (2003), "Bloodfist 2050" (2005) with young martial artist Matt Mullins, and "The Hunt for Eagle One" (2006). Del Rosario joined Phillip Salvador, Aurora Sevilla and Willie Revillame in "Joe Pring 2: Kidlat ng Maynila" (1991) produced by Four n Films. He also performed with Lito Lapid, Monica Herrera, and Johnny Delgado in "Medal of Valor: Habang Nasasaktan Lalong Tumatapang" (1991) also produced by Four n Films. His recent movies were "Super Noypi" (2005) and "Tatlong Baraha" (2006).
Political career.
Del Rosario first ran for councilor of Makati from the 1st district in 2007 under the ticket of mayoralty candidate and Senator Lito Lapid, but lost. He ran for councilor in 2010 under Nacionalista Party and was successful this time. He was re-elected in 2013 under United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), then the ruling party in Makati.
Initially running for re-election in 2016, he instead ran for representative of Makati's 1st district as a substitute to Ichi Yabut, who decided to seek re-election as councilor instead. He was successfully elected to a three-year term. As representative, he principally authored 58 House bills and 47 resolutions and co-authored 118 bills and 9 resolutions in total. The following are the bills enacted into law he authored:
Though eligible for re-election as representative, he ran for vice mayor of Makati in 2019 as the running mate of Junjun Binay; however, they both lost. He ran for senator in 2022 under Reporma but lost, placing 29th overall.
He is running for vice mayor of Makati for the second time in 2025, this time as the running mate of Senator Nancy Binay and under UNA.
References.
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