A resolution has been filed in the Senate to congratulate veteran actress Dolly de Leon for being the first Filipino to be nominated at the British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Globe Awards for her best supporting actress role in the Palm d’Or winner, Triangle of Sadness.

In Senate Resolution No. 435, Senator Risa Hontiveros, who authored the resolution, said De Leon’s nominations “showed that Filipino stories, experiences, and talent have a place in the halls of prestigious award-giving bodies.”

“Dolly’s nominations show that Filipino stories, experiences, and talent have a place in the halls of prestigious award-giving bodies,” Hontiveros said in a statement on Wednesday.

“What a joy to witness the world fall in love with a Filipino actor. It makes us proud to be Filipino,” she added.

De Leon, who has a degree in theater arts from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, also bagged the best actress in a supporting role award at the Guldbagge Awards and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Hontiveros said that the 53-year-old actress, who played Abigail, a toilet manager working on a luxury cruise ship and surrounded by other Filipino workers below deck, is a “representative of the diaspora of Overseas Filipino Workers who work thankless jobs away from their home, their family, and everything safe and familiar to them.”

“Having Dolly, an actual Filipino, play a role that speaks to the millions of OFWs around the world, in a film with a global audience, is a big deal,” the senator said.

“She masterfully showed the complexities, the strength, and the agency of being a woman and a minority. By using her prowess in acting, she was able to show the shape and depth of a female OFW,” she added.

The resolution stressed that OFWs like Abigail and her Filipino colleagues on the luxury yacht are essential to the Philippine economy, to the country, and to the communities they serve.

“Besides Dolly’s award-winning performance as Abigail, I hope her international recognition also sparks more conversations about the conditions of Filipino migrant workers, especially women,” Hontiveros said.

“They deserve no less than safe and secure employment, adequate and pro-active government support, and our collective respect,” she added.