Growing up in a hard-up environment in Tanay, Rizal drove Manuel "Manny" Sinquenco to learn to paint diligently in the hope of being able to improve his family's impoverished situation if he becomes a foremost painter. As a young teenager Manny thus started painting old houses in miniature canvas, laces and Collado's which he sold in art galleries for a measly sum just to earn a living.

Sinquenco's penchant for depicting old houses in his paintings has become his signature subject. Manuel Sinquenco combines decorative and natural realism style in his art works. He uses horizontal and vertical structures to create several flat parts to give the impressions of space. A distinct characteristic in Sinquenco's artworks are the interposal shapes inside the visuals. The interweaving bars, rectangles and polygons and like a labyrinth - a painting inside a painting.