Veteran actress Eva Darren's son blasts FAMAS; award-giving body apologizes

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) has apologized to veteran actress Eva Darren for alleged miscommunication.

Eva was supposed to be an award presenter together with Tirso Cruz III, but the actor went onstage with a young singer. 

"FAMAS would like to express its sincerest apologies to Miss Eva Darren, an icon in Philippine Movie Industry and a professional actress whose career is indubitably worthy of emulation. She was part of the program in last night’s Awards Night and was supposed to present Special Citations with Mr. Tirso Cruz III. But considering that we were running a live show, and due to myriads of people present in last night’s festivities, the production team was not able to locate Ms. Darren," FAMAS wrote.  

"This was indeed a setback in the live show and a negligence on the part of the team. Rest assured that this was not intentional and purely a misjudgment. The show is being streamed live and needed to be remedied right away. Hence, a replacement for Miss Darren was done last minute," it added. 

FAMAS said that they are committed to make amends with Eva. 

"We are writing this with a heavy heart especially after hearing that Miss Darren and her family were terribly hurt by this unintentional disregard to her presence and stature. We truly value Miss Darren and the rest of the veteran stars present last night true to the Homecoming Concept of the show," it said.  

"But as there were brilliant moments to the most star-studded awards night in recent memory, there were also hitches and unfortunate developments in a live show such as this one. We understand that an apology alone cannot undo the damage this might have caused Miss Darren but we are committed to make amends and rebuild her trust by a personal visit of the FAMAS Board to honor her stature, if she allows it," it added. 

FAMAS' apology came after Eva's son Fernando dela Pena blasted the award-giving body after what happened. 

"A couple of months ago, she received a notice of invitation for the FAMAS awards night. For those of you who aren’t familiar, FAMAS (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards) is the equivalent of the USA’s Oscar Awards. She was also given a script to go over and memorize as an awards presenter coupled with another veteran actor, Mr. Tirso Cruz III," he said. 

"Mom was excited, bought the best dress and pair of heels she could afford and topped that with a nice package of hair and make up for the gala. During the event, she brought along three of her very proud grandkids. With a price tag of P5,000 ($90) per plate for four people, needless to say, it was not a cheap evening. It was all worth it though. After all, the last time she was on stage during a FAMAS awards night was back in 1969 when she received the coveted 'Best Supporting Actress Award' for her role in the movie ANG PULUBI (The Beggar) opposite legendary actress Charito Solis.

"Being the true professional that my mother is, she memorized and rehearsed her script to perfection, braved the downpour of a Signal No. 1 Typhoon warning and drove to the Manila Hotel. 

"After the glitz and glamour shots with air-cheek-kisses and what not, everyone eventually took their seats and the awarding commenced. During the point where she was supposed to present an award, her partner, Mr. Tirso Cruz III went upstage with an upcoming young singer instead. Not my mom. 

"My mother never went on the stage. The PR officer of FAMAS who had been in constant communication with my mother prior to the event had absolutely no explanations to offer, just a thousand apologies. He confessed not knowing what happened and wasn’t sure why there was a last-minute change. My Mom said 'it’s okay' but decided to leave nonetheless. I couldn’t blame her. Staying around was just rubbing salt on her FAMAS-inflicted wounds."

Fernando said he contemplated on filing a legal action against the award-giving body, but his sister told him to leave it to the hands of God. 

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