The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) issued an apology to veteran actress Eva Darren after it failed to honor its commitment of having her as presenter in its recently-concluded awards night.
This comes right on the heels of Eva’s son Fernando Dela Pena’s rant on Facebook.
Eva, professional that she is came to the event early and prepared herself. She was to present an award together with Tirso Cruz III.
In its official Facebook page, FAMAS released its apology to Eva.
“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” it initially Saud.
Problem surfaced, according to them when the veteran actress was nowhere to be found.
“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. 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,” the statement said.
“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. 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,” the statement said.
Not a few showbiz personalities reacted violently to the apology letter.
“What FAMAS organizers did to Tita Eva is disgusting, disrespectful and depressing. They should and must not have done that to anyone, much more with someone like Ms. Eva Darren who’s an icon in the industry. Imagine, nananahimik si Tita Eva kinalampag nila to present an award – nag-effort ito at her age (no offense meant Tita Eva) at gumastos plus the excitement to see some of her peers ‘tapos ginanoon lang nila, they have to explain why. Mga insensitive ang mga nyetang ito. Nakakagalit. Nakaka-P.I. talaga,” writer Jobert Sucaldito said.
“The FAMAS should issue a public apology for Ms Eva Darren, and reimburse the 20k she paid for her and her grandkids’ dinner.Lest the organization gets tagged as FASCAM Awards,” scriptwriter Bibeth Orteza said.
“Sabi ng Famas spokesperson ba yon? Hindi raw ma-locate ang seat ni Ms. Eva Darren, kaya nagkaroon ng last minute replacement sa stage.
“Sorry for my word, put—- ina naman, sa tanda naman ni Ms. Eva, saan naman kaya siya pupunta? Nagte-table hopping ba siya? Nagyosi sa backstage? Nag-jog sa Quirino Grandstand? Namamasyal sa Luneta?
“Mga palaka kayo!
“Samantalang me nakapasabi sa akin (kayo nang mga taga-riyan ang sumagot kung true), binigyan nyo ng award ang ilang hindi naman karapat-dapat magka-award porke nag-sponsor lang nang malaki. True ba?
“Tapos, inabala nyo yung matandang nirerespeto sa industriya para lang mabastos sa Gabi ng Parangal?
“Iba talaga ang tinitingnan sa tinititigan,” talent manager and vlogger Ogie Diaz wrote as his reaction to the issue. (NIGEL CHAVEZ DE ESTRADA)
