MANILA, Philippines—Predictably, not everyone’s happy with the results of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

Producer “Mother” Lily Monteverde, whose films “Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll 11” are entries to the 35th MMFF, wants to know why the festival jurors chose another entry, “Ang Panday,” for this year’s Best Picture award.

The characters of (from left) Buboy Villar, Rhian Ramos, Bong Revilla, and Geoff Eigenmann battle against their enemies on the sand dunes of Ilocos Norte for the MMFF entry Ang Panday. GMA Films/Imus Productions

Mac Alejandre’s “Ang Panday,” which narrates the journey of blacksmith Flavio as he battles evil with a dagger that he has forged, bagged the biggest number of honors during the MMFF awards ceremony held on Monday night at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. It also earned the cash prize of P800,000.

The fantasy-adventure film, which features special effects including flying creatures and medieval fortresses, won for Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla the Best Actor trophy. It is also the festival’s top grosser, according to the official box office records released by the MMFF executive committee.

Sharon Cuneta handily won the Best Actress award for her work as the strong-willed mother Melinda in “Mano Po 6.” Like Revilla, she brought home a cash prize of P800,000. (In the 2003 MMFF, Cuneta received the People’s Choice for Best Actress award for the “Crying Ladies.”

“I love Bong. I’m happy that his film won the award. However, I want the jurors to explain how they came up with their decision,” Monteverde told Inquirer Entertainment shortly after the awards ceremony.

National Artist for Film Eddie Romero chairs the board of jurors composed of Cinema Evaluation Board Chair Christine Dayrit, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board Chair Consoliza Laguardia, MMFF executive director Rolly Josef, film director Bebong Osorio, Film Editors Guild president Jess Navarro, film producer Simon Ongpin, composer Dero Pedero, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority AGM Planning head Cora Cruz, Manila Bulletin entertainment editor Crispina Belen and Marikina center of excellence head Julie Borje.

Best Picture criteria

The criteria for the Best Picture award are artistry, creativity and technical excellence, innovation and global appeal, 40 percent; box-office earnings in the first three days (Dec. 25-27), 50 percent; and Filipino, cultural and/or historical value, 10 percent.

But Monteverde pointed out that last year’s Best Picture winner, Mark Meily’s “Baler,” did not do well at the box office yet it won, anyway.

“I don’t wish to be accused of merely wanting to be controversial. It’s just that everybody wants to know what set of guidelines the jurors followed to come up with this year’s set of winners,” she said.

Unanimous

According to Laguardia, the jurors were unanimous in choosing “Ang Panday” as Best Picture because of its state-of-the-art special effects.

“We didn’t change the criteria or the guidelines. It was obvious in ‘Panday’ that great effort was exerted in making it. Ginastusan talaga (They spent a lot of money on it). Personally, I liked that all the cast members performed well,” she said.

Laguardia said the historical film “Baler” was given the same award because of its “redeeming social value.”

“All the important elements were in ‘Baler.’ It’s possible that the high score it got from the jurors prevailed over the low score it got in the box-office earnings criterion,” she said.

2nd, 3rd best films

Laurice Guillen’s drama, “I Love You, Goodbye,” starring Gabby Concepcion and Angelica Panganiban, won the Second Best Picture award and a cash prize of P500,000. Tony Reyes’ horror-comedy “Ang Darling Kong Aswang” got the Third Best Picture trophy and P250,000.

“Ang Panday” also won for Phillip Salvador the Best Supporting Actor trophy for his portrayal of the villain Lizardo. (He won the same award last year for his work in “Baler.”) Robert “Buboy” Villar, who plays Flavio’s sidekick Bugoy, was awarded Best Child Actor.

The film also won the Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects trophies for Richard Somes and Ray Jay Santiago, respectively, as well as the Best Original Theme Song award for Ogie Alcasid for “Tanging Ikaw Lamang.”

Best director

Heart Evangelista received the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Stephanie, Melinda’s wayward daughter. “After the very long search for the right actress to play Stephanie, God gave [Evangelista] to us,” Cuneta said.

Joel Lamangan, was awarded Best Director for “Mano Po 6,” which he described as his “most important film” so far. The film’s writer, Roy Iglesias, won the Best Screenplay award and Von de Guzman bagged the Best Musical Score award.

“Mano Po 6,” which deals with equality among men and women and other gender issues, was also awarded Most Gender-Sensitive Film.

It is also the recipient of the Gatpuno Villegas Memorial award.

‘Be humble’

Comedy king Dolphy, the lead actor in “Nobody, Nobody But … Juan,” received the Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to the entertainment industry in the past six decades.

In his acceptance speech, Dolphy reminded younger artists to always be humble: “The most painful thing about being an actor is realizing that you’re already a has-been. That’s why [you have to] be humble; always keep your feet planted on the ground.”

A Posthumous Award for Film Service and Excellence was given to producer Espiridion Laxa, founder of the now defunct Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions. Among those who accepted the award on his behalf was his brother, former actor Tony Ferrer.

“I Love You, Goodbye,” produced by Star Cinema, won the Best Story award for Karen Ramos, Kris Gazmen and Vanessa Valdez; the Best Cinematography award for Lee Briones Meily; and the Best Editing trophy for Manet Dayrit and Efren Jarlego.

“Ang Darling Kong Aswang” got the Best Sound Recording award for Albert Michael Idioma.

“Shake Rattle and Roll 11” went home with a single honor—the Best Makeup trophy for Noel Flores.

Cellar-dweller

Topel Lee’s action-fantasy film “Wapakman,” starring Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, failed to win an award and landed on the bottom spot in the box-office race.

Its producer, Solar Entertainment’s Wilson Tieng, offered this explanation: “Manny’s schedule was very hectic. We didn’t have enough time to do more post-production work. [But] the movie is finished. His fans can still watch it.”