I think it would be a major spoiler early in the game if the manual said Laguna was a 50 something year old President of Esthar instead of a 27 year old Galbadian Soldier turned journalist. The player isn't supposed to know that Laguna is from the past until the White SeeD ship shows up to take Ellone away (although, if you pay attention to Timber's town history, you can speculate about it as early as the first dream) Not to mention the Laguna's character is majorly featured in the flashbacks while Squall's obviously is not.