Superstar Nora Aunor received a belated birthday gift from the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC), as one of twelve ‘Mga Natatanging Bituin ng Siglo’ recipients bestowed during the 35th Star Awards last night at the Newport Performing Arts Theatre, Resorts World Manila.
The lifetime achievement award cited Aunor and the other 11 actors for their “exceptional body of work, notable achievements in the Philippine movie industry, and simply because they have touched the lives of the Filipino people from their humble beginnings.”
The diminutive living legend has been twice snubbed, by-passed and robbed of a ‘National Artist’ conferment by two successive presidents who, coincidentally, were not backed by Aunor.
The actress released a statement chastising the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, ‘what’s the use of including her name in their list of National Artists’, only to be turned down later by presidential whims.
Nevertheless, Aunor’s body of work, which leaves an indelible mark in the halls of cinema greatness, remains one for the books. She is the only actor in the history of FAMAS Awards to be nominated for fifteen consecutive years.