Senator Grace Poe and actress-turned-politician Vilma Santos have been added to the executive committee of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), chairman Tim Orbos announced Tuesday.

Orbos said the decision to include the two industry veterans, in addition to other new names, was part of a move to create a more diverse committee that will hopefully strike a balance between indie, mainstream producers, and theater owners.

Poe is a former head of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), while Santos is widely considered to be a pillar of the local movie industry.

The committee shake-up comes after criticism that labeled the previous edition of the festival as a box-office flop, having only earned a little less than P400 million.

Orbos, as well as other members of the committee, had to repeatedly defend the low earnings, saying that their goal last year was introduce more "quality" films to moviegoers for the advancement of the local cinema industry.

Below is the full list of the members of the new executive committee:

• Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares
• Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto
• Taguig City Mayor Laarni Cayetano representing the Metro Manila mayors
• Police Director Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police - National Capital Region
• Rachel Arenas, chairperson of the MTRCB
• Liza Diño, chairperson of the Film Development Council of the Philippines
• Wilson Tieng, president of the Movie Producers and Distributors Association of the Philippines
• Jun Romana of the Bureau of Broadcast Services
• Jesse Ejercito of the Philippine Motion Picture Producers Association
• Marichu Maceda, chairperson of the Mowelfund
• Actress Boots Anson-Rodrigo
• Victor Villegas, a film distributor
• Edgar Tejerero, president of the SM Lifestyle Inc.
• Rolando Duenas, assistant general manager of the Ayala Cinemas.
• Christina Caparas, general manager of Vista Mall Cinemas
• Evylene Advincula, operations manager of Robinsons Movieworld
• Jose Romero IV, movie director
• Mel Chionglo, movie director
• Rolando Tolentino, representing the academe
• Ed Lejano, executive director of the Quezon City Film Development Commission
• Ricky Lee, scriptwriter
• Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, journalist and documentary producer
• Noel Ferrer, professor and multimedia practitioner
• Anselmo Adriano, chairman of the Optical Media Board