By Noel D. Ferrer
Atty. Augusto Antonio Aguila, a literature teacher and a scholar of UST, has been so vocal about actress Vilma Santos-Recto’s bid for National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts.
There’s a lot of unnecessary and irrelevant noise from certain camps on the matter pertaining to who should be and not be named the next National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts. Atty Aguila asserts that the name Vilma Santos-Recto is in the middle of all the excitement. “We Vilmanians and any sane individual know that she deserves to be National Artist. Let’s look at Vilma’s career and highlight the reasons why she is a a true artist whose influence and impact on film and broadcast arts is undoubtedly national in scope,” he says.
Here are his justifications. “First, Vilma Santos has made several critically acclaimed films that actually made big money like ‘Burlesk Queen,’ ‘Rubia Servios,’ ‘Karma,’ ‘Relasyon,’ ‘Broken Marriage,’ ‘Adultery,’ ‘Tagos ng Dugo,’ ‘Pahiram ng Isang Umaga,’ ‘Hahamakin Lahat,’ ‘Ipagpatawad Mo,’ ‘Dahil Mahal Kita: The Dolzura Cortez Story,’ ‘Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa,’ ‘Dekada ’70,’ ‘Anak,’ ‘Ekstra,’ etc. This is solid proof that Vilma Santos can turn critically-acclaimed films into blockbusters and the only one who can do so. There is a popular misconception in the movie industry that art films appeal only to academics and critics. Well, that may be true to other actors who appear in art films that don’t make money, but this is not true in Vilma’s case because she has a national audience for six decades. In fact, her first ever indie film ‘Ekstra’ still holds the record as the biggest moneymaker at the Cinemalaya Film Festival. Who says indie films don’t and can’t make money? Once again, Vilma Santos has proven them wrong.
‘And as a true child of the film industry, Vilma knows that every member of the film crew is important’
“Second, Vilma has won several acting honors in every award-giving body in the country. She won a total of eight Gawad Urian Best Actress trophies with seven of them as sole winner and only one tied with another actress. She was awarded by the Manunuri as Aktres ng Dekada twice for the ‘80s and the ‘90s. And seven of Vilma’s movies won Gawad Urian Best Picture namely, ‘Pagputi ng Uwak Pagitim ng Tagal’ (a film produced by Vilma’s very own VS Films), ‘Broken Marriage,’ ‘Sister Stella L,’ ‘Pahiram ng Isang Umaga,’ ‘Ipagpatawad Mo,’ ‘Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa,’ ‘Dekada ’70.’ Vilma Santos is the only actress who can say that seven of her films have been named the best by the Manunuri. And two of them are based on literary masterpieces: ‘Bata Bata…’ and ‘Dekada.’ Both were written by Lualhati Bautista. Since we’re tallking about art, well, there you have it.
“Vilma won a total of six FAMAS Awards. Five of them for Best Actress and one for Best Child Actress. Winning five elevated her to the FAMAS Hall of Fame, the youngest and the first among her contemporaries to do so and unequaled by those who came after. She is included in the FAMAS’ Circle of Excellence twice and was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.
“Vilma won a total of eight Best Actress awards from the Star Awards for Movies and was named by the same award-giving body as Aktres ng Dekada. She won four Best Actress awards from the Film Academy of the Philippines which also gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award. She also won Best Actress 5x at the Metro Manila Film Festival, 2x from the Young Critics Circle, 2x from the Catholic Mass Media, and of course a number of international Best Actress awards which include the 1999 Festival Internationale Du Film Independent in Brusells, Belgium for ‘Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa’; the Cinemanila International Film Festival for ‘Dekada ’70’; the 13th Dhaka International Film Festival for ‘Ekstra’; the Manila International Film Festival for ‘When I Met You in Tokyo.’
“Third, Vilma Santos is a true child of the Philippine movie industry. She started out as a child star and was launched into stardom via ‘Trudis Liit’ for which she won Best Child Actress. The local film industry has seen how Vilma has blossomed from a child star to a teen idol, box-office queen, movie queen, award-winning television star and host, multi-awarded actress, icon. And as a true child of the film industry, Vilma knows that every member of the film crew is important that is why Vilma is known through the years by her peers as the consummate professional, not wasting other people’s time by constantly arriving late for work, not giving into mood swings, or wasting time on useless preoccupations and vices. When Vilma starts something, you’re sure that she will finish it on time or even ahead of time. She comes to the set prepared knowing that a lot is at stake when you don’t give your 100%. And Vilma gives her all, her 100%.
“Aside from appearing in critically-acclaimed blockbuster films, Vilma Santos can play a wide variety of characters. She is never pigeonholed as someone who plays the same characters over and over again. As Atty. Aguila already mentioned in previous posts, Vilma Santos is known for her versatility. “Vilma can play characters who are either rich or poor, sweet or daring, good or bad, shy or brazen, weak or tough. Name it, Vilma can do it. As a Scorpio, Vilma has surprised and astounded us by playing a young woman who falls in love with her cousin, a burlesque dancer, an activist nun, a serial killer, a hard-working OFW, a rape victim, a cancer and AIDS patient, a scheming boss, a psychiatrist, a bit player, a mistress, a career-driven woman, a barren wife, a liberated coed, an adulteress, a prisoner, a spinster who finds true love in a foreign country, a superhero, a mermaid, and yes even twins. Vilma possesses a chameleon like ability to play any role convincingly and brilliantly. We believe her because what she gives us is truth.
“Vilma Santos is the first ever and the youngest to win Grand Slam Best Actress which means winning Best Actress awards from all award-giving bodies. Her powerful performance as a mistress in ‘Relasyon’ earned her top acting honors from the Gawad Urian, FAMAS, Film Academy of the Philippines, and the Catholic Mass Media. And she didn’t only do this once. She did it again with her brilliant performance as an AIDS patient in ‘Dahil Mahal Kita: The Dolzura Cortez Story.’ Since Vilma has been elevated to the FAMAS Hall of Fame which meant winning Best Actress 5X making her illegible for a nomination, but FAMAS awarded her the Circle of Excellence that year and she won Best Actress in all the award-giving bodies in 1993: Gawad Urian, Film Academy of the Philippines, and the PMPC Star Awards for Movies. And Vilma has done it again and again. This makes Vilma peerless in the acting arena.
“Vilma Santos is a certified box-office star many times over from the 1970s to the present even breaking her own box office records. The Gulllermo Mendoza Memorial Foundation has elevated her to the Hall of Fame as Box-Office Queen. This simply shows that Vilma has maintained her bankability through the decades, an accomplishment that can only be imagined by those who came before her, her contemporaries who can no longer attract moviegoers to watch their movies. Worse still, they can no longer book playdates in theaters for their films, and those who came after: younger stars who made hit movies, but have lost their audience as they aged. This is precisely the reason why Vilma Santos is referred to as the longest reigning movie queen. And only true Queens can have that kind of longevity that lasts a lifetime. Other pretenders to the throne can spew fire and brimstone about their long lost queendom (if there ever was one), but the fact remains that Vilma Santos is the one and only true Queen, because she remains significant and relevant and she possesses a kind of pulchritude that is fit for a queen. While others can only reminisce about their glory days that happened a long, long, long, long, time ago. Vilma is Queen yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
Given the criteria of the Order of National Artist, the proponents of Ate Vi’s nomination should be able to clearly discuss how she has helped build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their respective works; how she has distinguished herself by pioneering in a mode of creative expression or style, making an impact on succeeding generations of artists; how Ate Vi has created a significant body of works and/or have consistently displayed excellence in the practice of their art form, enriching artistic expression or style; and as proven by her various awards – how she enjoys broad acceptance through prestigious national and/or international recognition, award in prestigious national and/or international events, plus, the obvious critical acclaim and/or reviews of their works, and/or respect and esteem from peers within an artistic discipline.
Before being a National Artist, some quarters say, shouldn’t Ate Vi win the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining first?
