PMPC Star Awards for Television makes a grand comeback
Piolo Pascual and Alden Richards hosted the PMPC Star Awards for Television.
The Star Awards for Television, the Philippine Movie Press Club’s (PMPC) annual tribute to Philippine TV’s brightest stars and the hardworking production teams behind the country’s top programs, finally returns with a vengeance, so to speak.
Founded in the early 60s, the renamed PMPC Star Awards, Inc. is a group of entertainment editors and writers across all media platforms, and is responsible for the annual presentation of Star Awards for TV, movies, and music.
After two missed editions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the celebration for the most outstanding television programs and personalities of 2024, took place at the Dolphy Theater on Sunday, a day before the demolition of some parts of the ABS-CBN compound, which could include the famed theater.
Ably hosted by the star power trio of Alden Richards, Kim Chiu, and Piolo Pascual, the 38th edition paid homage to industry legend Gloria Romero with a posthumous honor as one of the Icons of Philippine Television.
Pascual and Richards with female co-host Kim Chiu. Image from PMPC
Janice de Belen was presented with the Ading Fernando Lifetime Achievement Award while Julius Babao received the Excellence in Broadcasting Lifetime Achievement Award.
Additionally, the PMPC welcomed the acclaimed investigative program “I-Witness” of GMA 7 with the Hall of Fame awards for its groundbreaking impact on Philippine journalism.
i-Witness documentarists John Consulta, Howie Severino, Maviel Gonzales and Atom Araullo are flanked by show executives Merilea C. Llamoso, John Eumer Yanga, and Maria Arilia A. Tolentino. Image from PMPC.
The German Moreno Power Tandem Award went to Barbie Forteza and David Licauco (Pulang Araw) and Kim Chiu and Paulo Avelino (Linlang), in recognition for their undeniable on-screen chemistry and massive influence on Philippine pop culture.
And the grand winners? The seven most-awaited major awards were only revealed during the live ceremony: Best TV Station –GMA 7; Best Drama Actress — Kim Chiu (Linlang); Best Drama Actor — Piolo Pascual (Pamilya Sagrado); Best Drama Supporting Actress — Janine Gutierrez (Lavender Fields); Drama Supporting Actor — Dennis Trillo (Pulang Araw) and Arnold Reyes (My Guardian Angel); Best Primetime TV Series — FPJ’s Batang Quiapo; and Best Daytime Drama — Abot Kamay Na Pangarap.
Overall, 51 Star trophies were given inclusive of special citations. Most category winners were pre-announced a week before the awards presentation.
To all the winners, congratulations!
Secret lovers?
This story has long been buried in the most hidden, shadowy depths of Philippine entertainment, but most veteran showbiz scribes we talked to swear that this was a true story.
A venerated actor shared an extremely close and personal relationship with an equally well-respected actress who was almost half his age. Their collaboration for a movie was a filmmaker’s delight, and their tandem was well received by the masses. Their sweetness on the silver screen made fans swoon, and they openly discussed in interviews how they loved working with each other. Everybody would have left it at that — two co-actors in awe of each other in the professional sense — except that the actor died, and the actress did something curious.
Reporters who went to the funeral parlor looking for updates on the actor’s death were baffled to find the actress in the middle of the night, bringing with her the pants and barong of the deceased actor, silently crying before leaving. Those who were left behind couldn’t help but whisper among themselves, “Why did she bring his funeral barong? Where is the legal wife (a fellow actress), the next of kin, or official representative to dress him up? Is she the latest lady love of the actor?”
No scandal or untoward events took place during the wake and even after he was finally laid to rest. To this day, the relationship between the late actor and the famous actress remains a puzzle among his most avid supporters.
