MANILA -- Actor Coco Martin was at a loss for words when he found out that his movie "The Super Parental Guardians" with comedian Vice Ganda failed to make the cut for this year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

At the press conference for the comedy movie, Martin, like co-star Vice Ganda, was also saddened when he found out about the MMFF announcement.

But the "Ang Probinsyano" lead star believes that everything happens for a reason.

“Noong nalaman ko talaga, hindi ako nakapagsalita. Siyempre nakakalungkot na hindi siya nakasali. Pero sabi ko na lang sa sarili ko, alam ko, may magandang purpose ito. Na hindi man kami nakasali, alam ko na may dahilan kung bakit," Martin said.

• READ: Vice Ganda not offended by film's exclusion from MMFF

Martin said what is important now is that the film will still be shown to moviegoers.

"The Super Parental Guardians" will open in theaters on November 30, or more than two weeks before the start of the annual movie festival.

“Ang importante sure tayo na maganda ang pelikula namin. Kaya 'yon po ang nagpapalakas ng loob ko ngayon,” Martin said.

The official entries to the 2016 MMFF were announced last week, headlined by Jun Robles Lana's award-winning transgender film "Die Beautiful." The list became controversial after snubbing not just "The Super Parental Guardians," which also stars Coco Martin, Awra Briguela, and Simon Pineda, but also Regal Films' "Mano Po 7: Chinoy."

• READ: Richard Yap, Janella proud of 'Mano Po 7: Chinoy'

According to Nicanor Tiongson of the University of the Philippines Film Institute, the head of the MMFF 2016 selection committee, their panel decided to pick the entries based on "quality" instead of whether they will sell tickets.