Cesar Montano emerged as the best actor in the recently concluded Metro Manila Film Festival Awards Night held last December 29 at the Aliw Theater, CCP Complex. The actor-director-producer-screenwriter won for his performance in Ligalig.
"I'm so thankful to the jury that they gave me the best actor award. Sa lahat ng bumubuo ng jury ng Metro Manila Film Festival, thank you for this award," Cesar said right after the awards ceremonies.
Ligalig was Rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB), along with Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo and Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh. Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo won most of the awards—10, to be exact. Ligalig took home three awards while ZsaZsa Zaturnnah went home empty-handed.
Johnny Delgado, who plays Cesar's father in Ligalig, won the Best Supporting Actor trophy. The film's other award is for Best Editing.
BEST PICTURE. The Best Picture award went to Enteng Kabisote 3: The Legend Goes On And On And On while the second and third best pictures were Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo and Shake, Rattle & Roll 8, respectively.
Host Edu Manzano later announced that the MMFF jurors decided that 40 percent of the criteria for choosing the Best Picture winner this year would be based on box-office returns. The three best-picture winners are currently the frontrunners in the box-office race.
When asked what he thought of this new ruling, Cesar calmly said, "Parang ganun nga... Pero kung ganun, sana huwag naman...Hindi naman dapat maging ganun ang criteria sa box-office."
Pointedly, he added, "Best picture should be judged according dun sa sining, kagandahan ng kabuuan ng istorya, ng cinematography, pagkakadirek—hindi box-office."
But he concluded, "Kanya-kanya 'yan e, hindi natin mabi-blame ang mga judges. Sila ang mga hurado, sila ang mga pumili."
Just the same, the MMFF's Best Actor awardee did not hide his disappointment.
"Nakakalungkot siyempre. Only in the Philippines ‘yan e. Alam mo naman tayo, marami tayong only in the Philippines dito e. Ako, hindi na nagugulat dito sa Pilipinas e. But as a filmmaker, I congratulate all the winners," said Cesar.
He continued, "Huwag lang sanang ma-discourage yung Filipino viewers because of what we're doing. Sana maging positive yung result nito. I don't want to be skeptical about this, I'm so positive."
His wife Sunshine Cruz chose not to say much about the new ruling of the MMFF jurors.
"If I will answer that, baka magkasala ako," she managed to say. "Nasa inyo na po yun kung sa palagay n'yo tama o hindi. Kung ako po magsasalita, baka masabi nagsa-sour-graping ako... I think it [Ligalig] deserves more awards," said Sunshine.
Then she said, expressing the sentiment of many: "I suggest that they give [an award na] Best Box-office Film at hindi isama sa Best Picture [award]."
BEST ACTRESS. Cesar also admitted that he was a bit frustrated when his wife and Ligalig co-star, Sunshine Cruz, lost in the Best Actress category to Judy Ann Santos for Kasali, Kasali, Kasalo.
"Yung frustration ko, sana makita ko yung asawa ko umaakyat ng stage na Best Actress," Cesar admitted. "Please don't get me wrong, I don't have any doubts sa galing ni Judy Ann...[eventual winner]."
He also revealed, "I would love to see Celia Rodriguez [win]." Celia played a supporting role in Ligalig.
BOX-OFFICE. At press time, Ligalig was second to the last in the box-office standings.
When asked about his movie's box-office returns, Cesar answered: "Sa ngayon, hindi ko pa masasagot... hindi pa tapos. Hanggang January 7, dun natin malalaman yan. Sana sa resulta, kahit hindi po kami nanalo... I believe in our project, I believe in Ligalig.
"I quote Butch Francisco [Startalk co-host and a member of the CEB] in saying na talagang gustong-gusto niya yung pelikula namin at yun daw ang makaka-sweep ng awards. Well, sorry na lang tayong dalawa, Butch, at hindi tayo nagdilang-anghel. But it's okay, ganun talaga. Maganda lang may gumagawa pa rin ng pelikula sa Pilipinas. Malungkot po tayo ‘pag wala nang gumagawa ng pelikula dito."
When asked if he still has plans of joining the festival next year, Cesar replied, "Sasali pa rin. I'm a filmmaker and I am willing to help the industry no matter what. Sa lahat po ng filmmakers, huwag kayong madi-discourage. I-patronize po yung magandang pelikula," he said optimistically.
MOVIE PLANS. This 2007, Cesar is bent on doing a movie on the assassinated politician Ninoy Aquino. In a separate interview by PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) last November 18, Cesar had said, "I'll be doing more movies. Itutuloy ko yun [Ninoy Aquino movie]. We're working on the script with Marilou Diaz-Abaya." Abaya was Cesar's director in three major movies: Jose Rizal, Muro-Ami, and Bagong Buwan.
The 2006 Best Actor award is the third for Cesar Montano in the MMFF. He first won in 1998 for Jose Rizal and again in 2001 for Bagong Buwan. Two years ago, the talented actor also won the Best Director award for the beautiful film Panaghoy sa Suba.