MMFF official explains Ai-Ai's best actress prize

abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines – A Palace official on Tuesday shed light on the controversy over Ai-Ai delas Alas’s best actress award at the36th Metro Manila Film Festival.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, also chair of the board of judges of the MMFF, maintained that delas Alas won “because based on the evaluation of the criteria as uniformly provided to all the judges, she obtained the highest score.”

Delas Alas is the lead star of “Tanging Ina Mo, Last Na ‘To,” the film fest’s best picture.

“Her performance was well rounded and I believe that if one would decide to watch the 8 entries, one would have agreed with the decision," he added in a text message sent to ABS-CBN News.

On the perception that delas Alas’s closeness to presidential sister Kris Aquino had a bearing on her victory, Lacierda said: "To answer the concern, Kris' closeness to Ai-Ai had no bearing on the latter's victory.”

“The jurors decided on the basis of each individual's performance. Once a movie was screened, the jurors immediately evaluated the movie. So, we wouldn't remember how one rated the performance of each actor or actress," she said.

During the event, several people questioned delas Alas's victory. Joan Cabaldo-Bañaga, line producer of Cinemabuhay and Studio 5's “Rosario," said she was surprised that Jennylyn Mercado was not nominated for the best actress category.

Earlier, Kris also defended delas Alas from her critics.