- grandpointmarketing.comgrandpointmarketing.com/book/vilma-santos-a-portrait.pdf · in “Bata, Bata, Paano ka Ginawa”, “Anak”, and “Dekada 70”), she still always wins

VILMA SANTOS

BY MARIO E. BAUTISTA WWW.SHOWBIZ-PORTAL.COM

http://showbiz-portal.com/



2

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Enjoying Life to the Fullest

SO WHO SAYS you cannot have it all? Vilma Santos is

currently enjoying life to the fullest. And why not? When life

is successful for her in all its all various aspects. Her family

life with Sen. Ralph Recto and sons Luis Phillipe and Ryan

Christian is doing very well.

3 www.showbiz-portal.com

http://www.showbiz-portal.com/



Award Winning Actress

As an actress, she has already won so

many acting honors during her prime, but

each time she appears in a film now (like

in “Bata, Bata, Paano ka Ginawa”, “Anak”,

and “Dekada 70”), she still always wins a

new best actress award. “Anak” is also

considered as the highest grossing film in

local cinema, so she enjoys both artistic

and box office success.





A public Servant

As a public servant, she is well loved by her constituents

in Lipa and has won a number of honors and awards

since she became the city mayor in 1998. And now, she's

on her second term as Governor of Batangas.

“The Lord is good to me and I really cannot ask for

more,” she beams.





A child star

Maria Rosa Vilma Santos was born to

Milagros and the late Amado Santos in Trozo,

Magdalena, Manila on November 3, 1953. So

she will now be a Golden Girl. Called Ate Vi

by her loyal fans, she got her acting genes

from her dad, a former bit player himself. As

a child, she loved to listen to radio dramas

and she would imitate the acting of what she’d

hear in these shows. Her parents would see

her crying in front the mirror doing dramatic

scenes.


A cute and lively tot, an uncle who is working with

Sampaguita Pictures, Amaury Agra, thought of

introducing her to star-maker Dr. Jose Perez who

was then looking for a new child star to star in

“Trudis Liit”, a novel of the late Mars Ravelo

serialized in “Liwayway Magazine”. 300 little girls

applied at the audition. Ate Vi got the title role while

another child, Connie Angeles (who became vice

mayor of Quezon City), was cast as her younger

sister. Lolita Rodriguez played their mother, with

Bella Flores as the evil contravida who oppressed

them. The film was released in February of 1963

and was a hit.




A star is born

In her next movie, she played a lost child

over whom two mothers fought over in court,

Gloria Romero and the late Rita Gomez.

Other films she did as a child actress are

“Aninong Bakal”, “King and Queen for A Day”

and “Ging”. In 1965, she played the young

Imee Marcos in “Iginuhit ng Tadhana”. She

also became a mainstay in the TV soap

opera, “Larawan ng Pag-ibig”.


She played the daughter of the late Eddie

Rodriguez in “Sino ang May Karapatan” and as a

teenager, she would make one of her biggest hits in

the May-December affair flick, “Nakakahiya”, with

Eddie as her much older leading man. She also

played Eddie Garcia’s daughter in the award-

winning film on the cursillo movement, “De

Colores”. Later on, they’d also play husband and

wife in “Mga Reynang Walang Trono” and

“Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”.




A star is born

Her most unforgettable film as a child actress

is the Hollywood movie, “The Longest

Hundred Miles”, where she got to co-star

with such international film stars as Ricardo

Montalban, Katharine Ross and Doug

McClure. She played a child survivor of the

Second World War when the Japanese

invaded our country and she joined these

Americans in their escape from Bataan.


From 1963 to 1969, she did 27 movies as a child

actress. At 14, she got her first FAMAS nomination

as a supporting actress in “Kasalanan Kaya?”

where she played the daughter of Lolita and Eddie

Rodriguez. She also started her career as a teen

star opposite Edgar Mortiz, a “Tawag ng Tanghalan”

champion. Her first film with Edgar is “My Darling

Eddie” where they supported the late Eddie

Peregrina, the most famous singer of that era. This

saw the birth of the Vi-Bobot love team that became

the chief rival of the Nora Aunor-Tirso Curz II “Guy

and Pip” love team.




Vi and Bobot Love Team

Vi and Bobot became real life sweethearts and also starred in the hit TV show, “D’Sensations”.

But they broke up in 1974 and Ate Vi established her solo career. Their fans felt very sad with their

split up but it’s really time for Ate Vi to move on her own.


In 1970, the Vi and Bobot love team was launched in their

first starring roles in Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions’ “Love is

for the Two of Us”. This was followed by “Karugtong ang

Kahapon”, “Renee Rose”, “Aloha My Love” (filmed in Hawaii),

“Don’t Ever Say Goodbye” (filmed in Las Vegas and Reno,

USA), “Kampanerang Kuba”, “Biktima”, and many other films,

including “Dama de Noche”, where Ate Vi played a dual role

as twin sisters with contrasting personalities for which she

won her first FAMAS best actress award in 1973.




Fantastic Vi She hit it big on her own in the trilogy fantasy,

“Lipad, Darna, Lipad”, which had sequels like

“Darna vs. The Giants”, “Darna vs. The Planet

Women” and “Darna at Ding”. She was also a

hit in “Dyesebel” and the thrillers “Takbo,

Vilma, Dali” and “Hatinggabi Na, Vilma”.


She also did other fantasy films like “Phantom

Lady”, “Vivian Volta”, “Wonder Vi”, and “Vilma and

the Beep Beep Minica”.




Vilma Nora Rivalry

Ate Vi thus became the chief opponent

of Nora Aunor as the movie queen of

the 1970s. Her edge is that she also

became the queen of hit disco movies

filled with singing and dancing, like

“Swing It, Baby”, “Disco Fever”, “Rock

Baby Rock”, “Let’s Do the Salsa”, and

the movie she did with Latin idol Junior,

“Good Morning Sunshine”. In 1976, she

was paired with Romeo Vasquez in

“Nag-aapoy na Damdamin” by Larry

Santiago Productions and the screen

really ignited with their real-life

romance.





Serious Actress


Her being recognized as a serious actress started

when the late Director Ishmael Bernal megged her

in “Dalawang Pugad, Isang Ibon” (1977) as a young

woman who falls in love with a much older man,

Romeo Vasquez, and Director Celso Ad. Castillo in

the title role of “Burlesk Queen” (where she won the

Metro-Manila Filmfest best actress award), and in

Bernal’s “Ikaw ay Akin” (1978) where she formed a

love triangle with Nora Aunor and Christopher de

Leon and played the role of a rich heiress with a

neurotic personality.




The Producer


Ate Vi also became a producer and put up her own

VS Films, which did the hit, “Mga Rosas Sa

Putikan”, about women of the night, directed by

Maning Borlaza. But her most prestigious film as a

producer was “Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng

Tagak”, directed by Celso Ad. Castillo, which won

the 1978 best picture prize at the Urian Awards.

In 1978, she got to work for the first time with the late Lino Brocka, in “Rubia Servios”, where

she played a rape victim who would later on kill her rapist, played by Phillip Salvador.




Edu and Lucky

In 1980, Ate Vi got married to budding actor

Edu Manzano and they were married in Las

Vegas, USA, while shooting the film,

“Romansa”. She was pregnant with Lucky

(now called Luis) when she did “Pakawalan

Mo Ako” in 1981, for which she won her

second FAMAS best actress award as the

wife of Anthony Castelo accused by her

father-in-law, Subas Herrero, of killing her

own husband.


After she gave birth, Viva Films got her to a series

of hits, “Sinasamba Kita” with Lorna Tolentino and

Christopher de Leon, “Paano Ba ang Mangarap”

with Christopher, “Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan” with

Hilda Koronel and the late Dindo Fernando, and

“Saan Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig” with Tonton

Gutierrez.




Grand Slam Best Actress


It was in 1982 that she scored her first grand slam

as best actress when she did “Relasyon” for Bernal,

playing the role of Christopher de Leon’s devoted

mistress.




The Break up

Her love life was not as lucky. In 1983,

she did a film with Bernal entitled

“Broken Marriage”, for which she won

her second Urian best actress award in

her role as a TV production assistant

whose marriage to a newspaper man,

Christopher de Leon, crumbled. The

following year, her marriage to Edu really

went on the rocks and ended in

separation, and she did movies that

mirrored her real life affairs, “Hiwalay”

and “Ex-Wife”, both big hits.





Sister Stella L

In 1984, she did another movie

milestone in her career as an actress,

Mike de Leon’s “Sister Stella L.”, where

she played the role of a nun who is

politically awakened when she joined

the plight of exploited factory workers

who went on strike. It gave her another

Urian best actress award.





Tagos ng Dugo


In the FAMAS, she won her third best actress

award for Maryo de los Reyes’ “Tagos ng Dugo”

in 1987, where she played the role of a

pscyhologically disturbed woman who turns into

a serial killer that kills men when she is having

her monthly period. In 1988, she won her fourth

FAMAS best actress award for Elwood Perez’

“Ibulong Mo Sa Diyos”, where she played the

role of a blind girl who goes through a lot of

sufferings and sacrifices in life. In 1989, she

won her first Star best actress award and her

fourth Urian for her role as the successful

advertising exec stricken with cancer in Bernal’s

“Pahiram ng Isang Umaga”.




The 90’s

In the decade of the Nineties, she did more

acclaimed and award-winning films like “Dahil

Mahal Kita, The Dolzura Cortez Story”, the

story of the first AIDS patient in the country;

“Kapag Langit ang Humatol”, a komiks story

where she plays the role of a househelp who

gets rich and takes revenge on the man who

gave her an illegitimate child; and

“Ipagpatawad Mo”, a film that delves on

autism with Vilma playing the role of a mother

who fought for her autistic child. All these

films were directed by Laurice Guillen.


Other landmarks films she did during this period are

Maryo de los Reyes’ “Sinungaling Mong Puso”

where she is paired with Aga Muhlach, the

underrated “Hahamakin ang Lahat” by Lino Brocka

where she plays the role of a corrupt politician’s

wife, and Ike Jarlego’s “Hanggang Ngayon Ika’y

Minamahal” which probed the effects of marital

annulment on a couple and their children.




Ralph Recto

Some people say that love and career do not

always go well, but Ate Vi managed to be

successful in both areas when she met Ralph

Recto in 1986 at the King Kong Disco in

Quezon City then owned by Director Marilou

Abaya. The grandson of the Claro M. Recto,

the father of the Philippine Constitution, Ralph

was daring enough to ask her to dance with

him and this led to an affair that culminated on

the altar when they tied the knot official at the

Lipa Cathedral on December 11, 1992. It was

a big event attended by the biggest names in

showbiz and politics.


So who says that showbiz and politics don’t mix? It

did very well in the case of Ate Vi and Ralph. Not

only did the Star for All Seasons marry a man who

became a congressman and senator, but she

herself is now actively involved in politics as the

mayor of Lipa City.




About the Author – Mario E. Bautista


Yours truly, Mario Bautista, has been with the

entertainment industry for more than 4 decades.

I started my professional career in Channel 5, the

carrier station of the Manila Times, in 1965.

In 1976, I was invited to write film reviews for "TV

Guide", edited by Rod Reyes.

Newspapers then invited me to write

entertainment columns and reviews for them,

including "People's Tonite", "People's

Journal", "Times Journal", and "The

Philippines' Daily Express". Later, I also wrote

columns for "Ang Masa", "The Manila

Chronicle", and "The Manila Bulletin". I

likewise had regular columns for several

magazines, including Jingle Extra Hot, Movie

Flash, Intrigue, Expose, Fame, Hot Copy,

Parade, People's, and others.




About the Author – Mario E. Bautista


On TV, I was a co-host of Armida Siguion Reyna

and Behn Cervantes in "Let's Talk Movies" and did

film reviews on air for "The Big, Big Show". In 1985,

I became a member of the Philippine Movie Press

Club that gave out the Star Awards for Movies. In

1987, I was instrumental in putting up the Star

Awards for Television.

I now write regular columns for People's

Journal and Malaya. With the advent of the

internet now comes the birth of www.showbiz-

portal.com.

I decided to focus on just a few outlets now

that I'm a widower. My late wife, Victoria

Arcega-Bautista, who was the Vice

Chancellor of the UP Open University, passed

in February, 2008. I now prefer spending

more time with my five grandchildren.







Documents

- grandpointmarketing.comgrandpointmarketing.com/book/vilma-santos-a-portrait.pdf · in “Bata, Bata, Paano ka Ginawa”, “Anak”, and “Dekada 70”), she still always wins