BGEN SAMUEL B MANZANO PA
Deputy Commander, RESCOM, PA
BGEN SAMUEL B MANZANO PA is the current Deputy Commander of Reserve Command, Philippine Army. Prior to his assumption in his current position, he was the Deputy Regiment Commander of Light Reaction Regiment, Philippine Army from 01 May 2020 to 19 January 2022.
He is a product of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) of the Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF) where he also graduated with his Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology. He was appointed as Second Lieutenant to the Reserve Force, Armed Forces of the Philippines on 25 November 1992. He was later Called to Active (CAD) on 01 May 1993 and subsequently graduated from the Officer Preparatory Course CL 35-93.
As a young Lieutenant, he started his military career at the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), Philippine Army as Platoon Leader and Executive Officer of the 8th Scout Ranger Company in Samar. He became the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion (1SRBn) deployed in Basilan from 1997 to 1999. He was then designated as the Company Commander of 5th Scout Ranger Company deployed in Mindoro and later in Central Mindanao during the all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2000 wherein he was among the battle casualties. By God’s grace, in spite of the multiple injuries, he survived.
After recovering from his injuries, he was assigned to Headquarters Philippine Army (HPA) at the office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, G3 from 2002 – 2004. He was also assigned to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel, G1 where he served as Assistant Chief, Morale and Welfare Branch, and became the Chief, Administrative Branch until 2009. He was then given the opportunity to serve as the Senior Staff Officer for Operations (SSO Ops) of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in Syria from 2009 to 2010.
In 2011, he was reassigned back to FSRR, PA, and was designated as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Education and Training, G8 for a year. He was later became the Commandant of the Scout Ranger Training School (SRTS) until 2014. In 2015, he assumed as Commander of the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion, and had the opportunity to be deployed in Central Mindanao, Sulu, and in Marawi when it was occupied by the Islamic State-linked Maute Group and Abu Sayyaf Group.
After his stint as Battalion Commander in 2017, he was designated as Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, G2 of the Special Operations Command, Philippine Army. He was later reassigned to HPA as the Executive Officer of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Education and Training, G8, PA from 2018 to 2019. He then became the Chief of Staff of the FSRR for more than a year and was elevated as Deputy Commander of the Light Reaction Regiment, Philippine Army.
BGEN MANZANO pursued various military schoolings, seminars, and training both local and abroad, such as: Special Operations Team Training; Scout Ranger Course being marked as the top 1 of his class; Basic Airborne Course; Infantry Officer Basic and Advance Courses; Military Intelligence Officer Course; Global Peace Operations Initiative Peacekeeping Operations Instructors Course in Malaysia; Command and General Staff Course at the AFP Command and General Staff College; and National Security Studies Program at the National Defense College of the Philippines. He is also a graduate of Master in Public Administration-Major in Development and Security from the Development Academy of the Philippines, under the twinning program.
He earned various civilian and military awards, and commendations, such as the following: Order of Lapu-Lapu Award – Rank of Kamagi; Distinguished Conduct Star; Distinguished Service Stars; Gold Cross Medals; Distinguished Service Medal; Gawad sa Kaunlaran, Bronze Cross Medals; Meritorious Achievement Medal; Silver Cross Medal; Military Merit Medals; Wounded Personnel Medal; and numerous Letters of Commendation.
BGEN MANZANO is happily married to the former Ms. Cristina Marie Mercader and they are blessed with three (3) children, namely; Audrey Marielle, Sam Matthew and Saniata Marie.