Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos-Recto (born November 3, 1953) is a Filipino actress and politician. In a career spanning over six decades, she has played dramatic roles in film and television in the Philippines. She is widely referred as the "Star for All Seasons". She began her career as a child actress in the 1963 film Trudis Liit, for which she won her first FAMAS Award (Best Child Performer). She won the FAMAS Award for Best Actress for her dual role in Dama de Noche (1972). She has portrayed the superhero Darna in four films beginning with Lipad, Darna, Lipad! (1973). Santos produced Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak (1978), which won both the FAMAS Award for Best Picture and the Gawad Urian for Best Film.
As a politician, Santos served as governor of Batangas for three consecutive terms and as mayor of Lipa for also three consecutive terms.[1] She was elected as the Representative of the 6th District of Batangas which comprise only the City of Lipa in 2016. She was encouraged by various political parties to run for the Senate in 2019, but refused to do so.[2] She also served as a House Deputy Speaker from 2019 to 2022 and as the Representative of Batangas' 6th district from 2016 to 2022.
Vilma Santos is widely considered the most lastingly successful Filipino film and television actress of all time.[3] She was adjudged the greatest movie actress of the Philippines for the years 2000 to 2020 by the Philippine Entertainment Portal for her continued portrayal of a wide range of award-winning roles as well as for being a consistent box-office draw despite being in the industry for nearly six decades.[4] Vilma's venture into politics made her semi-retire from showbusiness in the late 1990's yet she still emerged as the actress with the most number of local best actress awards so far in the 21st century.[5]
She started her acting career when one of her uncles, who was a cameraman at Sampaguita Pictures, convinced her to try out for the movies. Initially, Sampaguita Pictures had planned a child star role for her in Anak, Ang Iyong Ina (1963). When Santos was in the studio, she noticed a long line of little girls. Thinking that that line was the line for her audition, she decided to queue in. The long line turned out to be for an audition for Sampaguita Pictures' offering Trudis Liit (Little Trudis).
When it was her turn to audition, she was asked by the panel to sing, dance and cry on cue. She got the part of "Trudis Liit" for which she received the FAMAS Awards Best Child Performer award for 1963.[6]
She was cast in Sa Bawat Pintig ng Puso (1964), Maria Cecilia (1965), Kasalanan Kaya? (1968), Iginuhit ng Tadhana (1965) and later in its sequel Pinagbuklod ng Langit (1969).
In 1998, she entered politics and ran for mayor of Lipa City, Batangas where she won three consecutive elections, becoming the city's first female mayor.[7]
In 2005, the University of the Philippines Diliman conferred on her the Gawad Plaridel Award for her achievements and contributions both as an actress and a public servant.[8] In the same year she was conferred an honorary doctorate degree (honoris causa) in humanities by the Lipa City College.[9] She was again honored in 2006 by UP Diliman as one of the four awardees in UP's First Diwata Awards.[10]
In 2007, Santos-Recto was on her third and final term as Mayor of Lipa and was barred for seeking another term. She became a reluctant candidate for Governor of Batangas as her brother-in-law, incumbent Vice Governor Richard Recto, is seeking the governorship.
On March 5, 2007, during the regular flag-raising ceremony at the Lipa City Hall, Santos-Recto ask for a week to decide if she will run or not. This was attended by thousands of her supporters not only in Lipa but from different towns in Batangas. On March 12, 2007, she made her final decision, running for Governor of Batangas despite having her brother-in-law as her rival, including incumbent governor Arman Sanchez and former police chief Nestor Sanares.
On the day of her filing of her candidacy, Richard Recto decided to withdraw his candidacy and run for Congress instead.
Santos-Recto was proclaimed Governor-elect of Batangas on May 21, 2007, after garnering 475,740 votes against incumbent Arman Sanchez's 344,969, becoming the first female governor of the province. She was reelected to her second term as Governor of Batangas in 2010, defeating incumbent Santo Tomas Mayor Edna Sanchez, who substituted her husband Arman Sanchez who died few weeks before the election. She was re-elected to her third and final term as Governor in 2013.[11]
After her election for her third and final term as Governor of Batangas, speculations circulated that Santos-Recto would run for the national level. However, she declined every offer to run for a higher level. She decided to run as the first representative of the newly formed 6th District of Batangas, would comprise only the City of Lipa. Santos-Recto won by a landslide, defeating Bernadette Sabili.[12]
She became chairman of the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation. However, she was removed from the post by the House leadership for her rejection of the reimposition of capital punishment. She is the vice chair of the Committee on Globalization and WTO and the Committee on Local Government. She is also a member of the committees on Basic Education and Culture, Cooperatives Development, Information and Communications Technology, Interparliamentary Relations and Diplomacy, Labor and Employment, Poverty Alleviation, Public Works and Highways, Southern Tagalog Development, Ways and Means, Welfare af Children, and Women and Gender Equality.
She is co-author of the SOGIE Equality bill (Anti-discrimination bill), Magna Carta for Day Care Workers, Maternity Leave Increase bill, Cancer Awareness bill, expanded Senior Citizens bill, and Post-graduate Education for Teachers bill.[13]
In September 2018, she switched from the Liberal Party, where she was a member since 2009, to the Nacionalista Party.[14]
On July 10, 2020, she is one of the 11 representatives who voted favor to grant ABS-CBN's legislative franchise.[15] in which she supported the network's cause for the people and culture. ABS-CBN is also responsible for the restoration of some of her films as well as preservation, which includes Kapag Langit ang Humatol, Anak, Haplos, and Dekada '70.
Although she's eligible to run for a third term, and due to speculations that she might run for a national post, Santos-Recto decided not to seek another term to give way to her husband to run in the same position, nor run in any position in the 2022 elections, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vilma Santos-Recto is married to Senator Ralph Recto. They have one son, named Ryan Christian.[16] She also has one son, Luis Manzano from her previous marriage to Edu Manzano.[17]
Shot significantly in Japan, they're in the final post-production stages...
Media related to Vilma Santos at Wikimedia Commons