FAMAS, the oldest movie award-giving body in the Philippines, has yet to explain how its staff at its 72nd awards rites at the Manila Hotel on Sunday night, 27 May, could not locate would-be award presenter Eva Darren when she had been sitting at a front-center table near the stage along with fellow retired actors Divina Valencia and Marissa Delgado, who were among the awardees as “Iconic  Actress of Philippine Cinema.”

Valencia lashed at the award organizers at dawn on Tuesday (28 May) [published as is]: “Hindi ko matatanggap ang dahilang napakalaking katarantaduhan na hindi makita si Ms. Eva Darren.

“Isa ciya sa mga naunang dumating. Kasama ang kanyang 4 na apo umasang makikita ang kanilang GrandMa na papanik sa stage na kasama c Mr. Tirso Cruz lll.

“This excuse is so narrow. It’s a big BS...”

No one has questioned the mettle of the night’s winners in the acting and technical-artistic categories or why the film Mallari won a total of seven awards, the highest among the nominated films.

The post-awards night furor began the morning of Monday (28 May) when a son of Darren, Fernando de la Pena, bluntly castigated FAMAS for not making his mother the co-presenter of actor Tirso Cruz III for a category for which task she prepared for and spent money for her outfit and for her dinner, as well as for the three grandchildren who escorted her to the affair. Dinner was P5,000 per plate. 

De la Pena posted on his Facebook page his utter disgust at being told by some FAMAS officers that the reason his mother had to be replaced was they could not find her at the banquet hall of Manila Hotel’s Fiesta Pavilion. De la Peña called the snub on his mother “rude... disrespectful...unethical...unprofessional....”

It was Darren’s first FAMAS appearance since 1969, when she took home the Best Supporting Actress trophy for her role in the movie Ang Pulubi.

Reporter Jojo Gabinete of the website pep.ph shared on Monday night (27 May) that he found a Facebook posting of actor Bibeth Orteza revealing that she got a hold of an invitation to the awards night that has a list of presenters. 

Darren was not on the list. Actor Nova Villa was the one listed as Cruz’s partner in presenting the German Moreno Youth Award to young actor Joaquin Domagoso. 

Orteza found out that the invite was sent out the day before the awards night. 

Practically ranted Orteza: “And this (the list of presenters)? How will the FAMAS explain this? Ano ba talaga ang tutoo? Hindi nila makita no’ng awards’ night, o talagang hindi naman pala kasali sa presenters, siningil lang ng 5k per plate na dinner sina Ms. Eva at ang tatlo niyang apo?” 

And then Orteza asserted: “The FAMAS should issue a public apology for Ms. Eva Darren, and reimburse the 20k she paid for her and her grandkids’ dinner. Lest the organization gets tagged as FASCAM Awards.” 

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN cameraman AJ Rollon posted on Facebook on Tuesday morning that he and the ABS-CBN reporter assigned to cover the FAMAS event, along with an assistant, were shooed away many times from where they were shooting inside the Fiesta Pavilion. Though Rollon and his crew were not doing a live coverage, they had to keep moving their camera to interview announced winners from ABS-CBN (which eventually included Best Actors Kathryn Bernardo, Piolo Pascual and Alfred Vargas).

Rollon learned from the people asking them to move out that the awards show was being directed by filmmaker Vincent Tanada of the Philippine Stagers Foundation (PSF). Rollon and his crew were told that only PSF members were allowed in one area where they wanted to shoot from. 

Rollon said there really was no area assigned for media. 

It was not known if the PSF staff were also the ones in charge of locating slated presenters in the banquet hall and assembling them at the back stage some good minutes before their names are announced as presenters. Tañada and his PSF staff had been in charge of the FAMAS awards night two years ago. Tañada won Best Director last year for the film Katips, which he also produced.

De la Pena said in his first FB rant that it was a certain Robert Spangler who communicated with Darren for about a month about her being a presenter at the awards night. Spangler told De la Peña his mom would be a presenter and was eventually sent a script for the night.

De la Pena said Spangler has apologized to him though the latter could not explain to the son why his mother was never called as presenter. Darren’s presence in the affair was not even acknowledged.

The person who was teamed up with Cruz III as presenter was rising singer Sheena Palad. She has posted on her FB that it was only at the night of the awards that she was requested to be a presenter. 

She was originally invited to sing during the dinner to entertain the crowd. Which she did. She wrote that she was totally surprised to be requested to be an award co-presenter.  She was happy that she happened to have brought another gown so she did not have to wear the same outfit when she sang earlier.

De la Pena accepted FAMAS’ posted and published apology.  

For a few years now, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences has been headed by Francia Conrad about whom little is known.