MANILA — Veteran actress Vilma Santos was in tears after winning the Best Actress trophy during the 49th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Gabi ng Parangal held Wednesday.

In her speech, Santos admitted that they were not gunning for the acting awards when they made the film "When I Met You In Tokyo."

"Hindi ko po ine-expect ito. Ang adbokasiya lang po namin talaga when we did 'When I Met You In Tokyo,' it's not even the Best Actress, Best Actor, we just wanted to do a simple love story sa edad po namin," said Santos, who co-starred in the film with Christopher de Leon.

Santos said that their ultimate goal was to breathe life into Philippine cinema, as the film industry is still recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Ang adbokasiya po namin ay maging successful ang Metro Manila Film Festival and at the same time, mabalik po sana 'yung mga tao sa sine, 'yun po ang aming inasam-asam nung mapasama nitong Metro Manila Film Festival, 'yung po 'yung dream," she said.

With more moviegoers coming to cinemas, the veteran actress hopes that they can continue to support the film industry.

"With this 10 movies that are showing right now with Metro Manila Film Festival, bumabalik po ang mga sa sine, sana po magtuloy-tuloy, dahil ito ang kailangan ng ating industriya, ang ma-appreciate po nila ang makasama po nila ang kanilang pamilya, family bonding and I think it is happening now, sana po magtuloy-tuloy."

Other big winners in the MMFF's Gabi ng Parangal were "Firefly," which won Best Picture, and "Gomburza," which got the most awards with seven trophies.

• LIST: Metro Manila Film Festival 2023 winners
• 'Firefly' wins MMFF Best Picture; 'Gomburza' takes home 7 trophies

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