Pahinga na sa lahat ng hirap at pagod sa buhay - “It was a bitter pill. Masakit talaga para sa aming mga anak niya iyong pagkawala niya, but deep inside alam naman naming nahihirapan na rin siya at iyong nangyari means makapagpapahinga na rin siya sa lahat ng hirap at pagod sa buhay...In fact, we all came out strong. Siya nga kasi ang naging example namin eh. Hindi ko masasabing walang hindi naging magandang nangyari sa buhay ko, pero natutuhan ko ang bumangon at mailagay sa ayos ang lahat. Iyong mga kapatid ko, hindi ko naman masasabing hindi rin nagkaroon ng problema, pero sila man mabilis na nakakabangon, kasi nga iyon ang nakagisnan namin kay Mama. At iyong totoo, hindi umasa si Mama sa akin. Lagi siyang may sariling negosyo kahit na ano pa iyan, kaya hindi namin masabing umasa siya sa amin. Noon na nga lang talagang mahina na siya at saka lang siya tumigil talaga. Pero hindi pa rin agad tumigil eh, siguro hindi niya kayang kumilos pero noon kasi iba pa rin ang isip niya. Nagbibigay pa rin siya ng advice and most of the time, maiisip mo, tama ang sinasabi niya...(Stop muna si Vi sa kanyang re-election campaign) kailangan ko namang makabawi kay Mama..." - Hon. Congresswoman Vilma Santos-Recto, reported by Ed de Leon, Pang-masa, 04 April 2019
Mami-miss ka namin, Mama - "...60 years old na si Mama nang una kaming magkakilala. Dekada ‘80 noon. Estudyante pa lang ako sa kolehiyo noong una kong makilala at ligawan si Vi. Ang Papa nilang si Amado Constantino Santos ay maagang pumanaw, isang taon bago kami magkakilala ni Vi...Nang ikinasal kami ni Vi noong 1992, si Mama at si Sonny ang naghatid sa altar kay Vi. At doon nagsimula ang ‘love story’ namin ni Mama, bukod sa love story namin ni Vilma. Sa lahat ng pagkakataon, buhat nang magsama kami ni Vi noong 1986, si Mama ay palaging nasa panig ko. Maaaring itanggi ni Vi iyan, subalit iyan ang totoo. Maalaga at sweet si Mama sa akin kaya’t kaming dalawa ang magkasundo. Palagi niya akong ipinaghahanda ng mga pagkaing nanggaling Nueva Ecija, ang probinsya ng mga Santos, katulad ng ‘batutay’ o longganisa ng Nueva Ecija. Kung ano man at saan man naroroon si Vi ngayon ay dahil kay Mama. Tulad ko ay Capricorn ang zodiac sign ni Mama kaya’t ang personalidad namin ay parehong competitive. At bilang competitive na stage mother, siya ang masipag magdala kay Vi sa lahat ng audition sa shows at pelikula, at doon na nga nagsimula ang career ni Vi noong mapili siyang gumanap bilang Trudis Liit sa edad na 9 na taon. Nasungkit kaagad ni Vi ang Best Child Actress award mula sa Famas. Naging mabuting ina si Mama sa magkakapatid na Santos. Siya rin ang dahilan kung bakit nananatiling close ang magkakapatid hanggang sa ngayon...Mami-miss ka namin, Mama. Sinabi ni Vi dati na ang pinakamatinding krisis o dagok na pinagdaanan niya sa buong buhay niya ay noong namatay ang Papa niya. Siguradong ibayong kalungkutan ang nararamdaman ni Vi at mga kapatid sa iyong pagpanaw...Pahinga ka na, Mama. Maraming salamat sa pagpapalaki mo sa isang Vilma Santos na ngayon ay kasama ko sa buhay. Maraming salamat sa pagturing mo sa akin na parang tunay na anak..." - Hon. Sen. Ralph Recto, Abante, 02 April 2019
Paalam Marie - "...Nagulat ako sa biglaang pamamaalam ni Marie Balbacui na kapanabayan namin every Sunday sa Custodial sa Camp Crame nu’ng nakakulong pa doon sina Sen. Jinggoy at Sen Bong. Hindi pumapalya si Marie tuwing Linggo sa Crame. Natagpuan daw na patay na sa kanyang tinutuluyan somewhere sa Sampaloc. Ang pakikiramay sa kamag-anakan. Fan ‘yan ni Vilma Santos noong kabataan niya..." - Joe Barrameda, Abante, 05 March 2019
Films That Celebrates Womanhood - "...In celebration of International Women’s Day, heto ang ilang local films that celebrates womanhood. Ito ang mga pelikulang pinapakita ang tapang, talino, pagtitiis, pakikipaglaban at pagwagi ng isang babae...Sister Stella L (1984) - Mula sa direksyon ni Mike de Leon, bida rito si Vilma Santos bilang ang madreng si Sister Stella na nabuksan ang mata sa matinding kahirapan ng maraming mamamayan. Una siyang na-involve sa isang on-going labor strike hanggang sa sumama na siya sa isang malawakang protesta para mabigyan ng hustisya ang pagkamatay ng isang labor union leader...Bata, Bata Paano Ka Ginawa? (1999) - Mula sa direksyon ni Chito Rono na hango sa celebrated novel ni Lualhati Bautista, ito ay kuwento ni Lea (Vilma Santos) isang women’s right advocate na may sariling pinagdaraanang krisis sa kanyang buhay. Una ay ang kanyang dalawang anak na sina Ojie (Carlo Aquino) at Maya (Serena Dalrymple) na magkaiba ang apelyido dahil sa magkaiba ang kanilang ama. Pangalawa ay ang pakikipagbuno niya sa ama ng kanyang mga anak na sina Ding (Albert Martinez) at Raffy (Ariel Rivera). At pangatlo ay ang pagtanggap sa kanya sa society na walang paghuhusga dahil isa siyang babae na nagmahal ng dalawang lalake..." - Ruel Mendoza, Abante, 02 March 2019
Armida and Lino - "...The shooting went well until the third week when I felt that Mario O’Hara seemed aloof toward me. I noticed that he had toned down the intensity of the love scenes and also did other more “commercial” aspects with the movie. I reminded him that though risky, as all period films are, I agreed to do the project and that I was prepared to fight for it during censorship. Despite this assurance, we still could not communicate well with each other. To avoid unnecessary friction, I moved to a small hotel near Lubao, Pampanga. Things got worse after that. He would change schedules without consulting with me. So, what the hell, I fired him. But before I did that, I asked Romy Suzara if he could take over the remaining five shooting days. He agreed. Our production deadline was delayed by 20 days but because we had a well-planned schedule, we still finished way ahead of all the other entries to the MMFF. Oh, how Lino Brocka hated me for it! He was so angry. Mario O’Hara was his friend and as I said, pag tao nya ang kinalaban mo, kalaban mo si Lino Brocka. I remember, during the post-production of the movie at LVN where Lino was also doing work on his MMFF entry Inay, he would give me dagger looks at parang talagang gusto niya akong sakmalin pag kami ay nagkakasalubong sa swing door papunta sa office ng LVN. He even demanded that his scenes be removed from the movie. Acceding to his request, I eliminated his scenes except the one in which Alma Moreno was abducted. Talagang hindi puedeng tanggalin yung isang shot kasama si Lino. Galit na galit siya. Eh balitang-balita pa naman noon na strong contender ako for best actress in the MMFF awards night. Nanggigigil siya talaga at ipinagdadasal na huwag akong manalo. Hindi ako nanalo pero tatlo lamang kaming nominated for best actress – Liza Lorena for Ishmael Bernal’s Walang Katapusang Tag-araw, Vilma Santos for Celso Ad Castillo’s Burlesk Queen and myself for Bilanggong Birhen. Vilma Santos won. No hard feelings on my part. Vilma was very good in the movie. After that came the FAMAS and Urian awards nights. Ganoon din; ipinagdasal din ni Lino na huwag sana akong manalo. Pero hindi siya nagwagi. After two years, his anger simmered down and eventually we became friends again. Hindi kami nag-away ni Lino na kaming dalawa ang dahilan ng pinag-awayan. It was always a third party that caused our rifts. We shared the same principles and fought for the same causes in the movie industry -to rid the industry of the patronage system whcih we both felt was a deterrent to professionalism. He was a great advocate of freedom of expression, and so was I. The movie industry owes Lino a debt of gratitude for inserting “freedom of expression” in the 1987 Constitution, without which the fight against censorship would be many times more difficult than it is now...When Lino died, I was very sad. Mahirap mapalitan ang isang katulad niya..." - Armida Siguion-Reyna, excerpt her book "Armida," ABS-CBN News, 17 February 2019
More to Learn - "...I really used to dance, Billy Boy knows this. Siguro nahawa ako sa Mama ko (referring to Rep. Vilma Santos who used to have her own variety show). And I was always around the VIP dancers...But you realize early on that I love dancing but it won’t be my bread and butter. I was so interested but I wasn’t able to turn it into a passion per se...Good question (number of show he has done so far). I wish I knew. It’s a good problem to have. I simply started in MYX then ASAP, then the shows came one after another. The sum total — how many shows and the number of seasons — I honestly don’t have any idea. But thank you, I’m going to look into that...No matter how good you believe you are, no matter how good people say that you are, the moment you think there’s nothing more to learn, that’s when everything goes down. Every new partnership, every new show, there’s something new to learn...” - Luis Manzano, reported by Nathalie Tomada, The Philippine Star, 02 February 2019
Junior Versions - "...They say we are like the junior versions of Ms. Nora Aunor and Ms. Vilma Santos. It’s flattering but for the record, I’m not competing with her. Everyone knows that Therese is a critically-acclaimed actress and it’s quite challenging to share the frame with her in this show...Yes, I’ve been hearing talks like that. But in all honesty, I don’t want the idea of competition between us. That would just affect my performance. Just let things flow naturally...” - Kyline Alcantara, reported by Joseph Peter R. Gonzales, Manila Standard, 28 January 2019
No for Vi - "Strong resistance from lawmakers and children's rights groups alike did not stop the majority of the House of Representatives from passing the bill that would lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years old to 12 years old. On Monday, January 28, a total of 146 legislators said yes to House Bill (HB) No. 8858, while only 34 said no. There were no abstentions...There are a total of 291 lawmakers sitting in the House. This means the remaining 111 legislators were absent during the vote, and their names will not be part of the list below...Here is the list of lawmakers who voted yes and no to HB 8858, based on Journal No. 45 which contains the summary of the plenary proceedings on Monday: NO:..Santos-Recto, Vilma (Batangas 6th District)..." - Mara Cepeda, Rappler, 30 January 2019
Feelers - "...Time to dust off the Crystal Ball and (fore)see what’s in store for the make-believe denizens in the Year of the Pig. Oink, oink, oink!!! A blushing revelation: this annual (random) fortune-telling dates back to the imposition of the unlamented Martial Law and, believe it or not, the batting credibility/accuracy average is way, way above the median. The manghuhula deserves three good pats on the back! First, the “Wide Awake” Items...Luis Manzano will keep on teasing the public imagination with “feelers” that he’s ready to marry girlfriend Jessy Mendiola (and make his mom, Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos, happy. She has been wishing for a grandson from Luis) but that’s as far as Luis will go - lip service..." - Ricky Lo, The Philippine Star, 02 January 2019
Matured & Mellowed - "...In my 50 years in show biz, there were many times when I wanted to give up. Back in the day, I would shoot three movies at the same time, aside from my weekly TV show. When I felt burned out, I made a disappearing act. I would just take off and go to Baguio, or any place where I could get away from it all. While I stood on the edge of a mountain, I shouted and cried it all out. I would be gone for three days, which was admittedly quite unprofessional. But I had to go away because I was dead tired and overworked. But as I matured, I mellowed. I began to think of the other people I worked with, and not just myself. We all need to take a breather every now and then..." - Hon. Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, Reported by Dolly Anne Carvajal, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 01 January 2019
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