Veteran actress Eva Darren was unfortunately subjected to a disappointing experience at the recent FAMAS awards night.
In a Facebook post shared by her son, Fernando de la Peña shared how her mother was asked to present an award at the FAMAS, held last night, Sunday, May 26, at the Manila Hotel.
Fernando said the actress rarely attends social events but she made an exception as it was the prestigious awards night. He also shared that Eva was given a script to memorize as an awards presenter together with another veteran actor, Tirso Cruz III.
He continued that Eva meticulously prepared, purchasing a new dress and attending to hair and makeup as she was excited to attend the event, as it was her first appearance after taking a break from showbiz.
However, the event took a disheartening turn for the veteran actress. While fellow presenter, Tirso, went on stage with a young singer, Selena Palad, Eva was left waiting. The promised moment on stage—a chance to reconnect with the industry that had been her life for so long—never happened.
“During the point where she was supposed to present an award, her partner, Mr. Tirso Cruz III went upstage with an upcoming young singer instead. Not my mom. My mother never went on the stage,” wrote Fernando.
He also mentioned that the FAMAS PR team did not explain the last-minute change, prompting Eva to leave the venue.
“[The PR] confessed not knowing what happened and wasn’t sure why there was a last-minute change. My Mom said ‘it’s okay’ but decided to leave nonetheless. I couldn’t blame her. Staying around was just rubbing salt on her FAMAS-inflicted wounds,” he continued.
Fernando then called out FAMAS for being “rude”, “disrespectful”, “unethical”, and “unprofessional” towards her mom, who is an icon of the Philippine cinema.
“I can think of a hundred other words to describe what FAMAS did to my mother, even contemplated legal actions for a second or two. But my sister, a devout Christian, told me to leave it to the hands of God. And so I will,” he ended.
Hours after the post went viral, FAMAS issued an apology letter to the veteran actress stating that the last-minute decision to replace Eva as the presenter was “not intentional” since they couldn’t locate Eva in the crowd.
“FAMAS would like to express its sincerest apologies to Miss Eva Darren, an icon in the Philippine Movie Industry and a professional actress whose career is indubitably worthy of emulation,” the statement wrote.
“She was part of the program in last night’s Awards Night and was supposed to present Special Citations with Mr. Tirso Cruz III. 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,” it continued.
“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 read.
The FAMAS then said that they value the actress stating that they wanted to make amends and rebuild her trust in the award-giving body.
“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,” it added.
However, Fernando shared his sentiments towards the FAMAS apology letter, commenting under a Pep article.
“My mother was seated front and center, the same table as Tita Marissa Delgado and my Ninang Divina Valencia! It is impossible not to find her,” he wrote.
FAMAS has yet to answer Fernando’s comment as of writing.