Eva Darren. Image: Facebook/FAMAS
Updated 8:35 P.M
The organizers of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) apologized to Eva Darren after her removal as one of the presenters of the ceremony on Sunday, May 26, claiming she had to be “replaced” as she couldn’t be “located by the production team” at the ceremony.
Hours after Darren’s son Fernando de la Peña called out FAMAS on Facebook, the awards-giving ceremony publicly apologized to Darren, saying her sudden replacement as a presenter was a “misjudgment” and not “intentional.”
“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,” its post began.
“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,” continued FAMAS.
Since the ceremony was “streamed live,” Darren’s “disappearance” had to “be remedied right away” which resulted in a “last minute” search for her replacement.
“We are writing this with a heavy heart, especially after hearing that Miss Darren and her family were terribly hurt by this unintentional disregard [for] 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,” it added.
FAMAS’ organizers said that while its apology to Darren “cannot undo” the repercussions of her exclusion, it hoped the screen veteran would allow its committee to make a personal visit to “honor her stature” and “rebuild trust” toward her.
“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 wrote.
FAMAS’ statement has since garnered over 4,000 reactions on Facebook, with many netizens clicking the angry response. It also limited those who can comment on its post.
Despite this, Facebook users Philip Paje and Rossana Corleone said the awards-giving body should be willing to “compensate” and “do more than an apology.”
Image: Screengrab from Facebook/FAMAS
‘Front and center’
However, it seems that de la Peña doesn’t accept FAMAS’ apology as he pointed out that Darren was “seated front and center” at the event in the comments of the Philippine Entertainment Portal’s Facebook post.
“My mother was seated front and center, same table as Tita Marissa Delgado and my Ninang Divina Valencia! It is impossible not to find her,” he wrote.
Image: Screengrab from Facebook/PEP.ph
The awards-giving body has yet to address de la Peña’s claim, as of press time.
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