Lacierda: Ai-Ai’s victory nothing to do with Kris

PRESIDENTIAL spokesperson Edwin Lacierda denied that actress Ai-Ai delas Alas's victory in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) had something to do with her closeness to President Benigno Aquino III's sister Kris.

"Kris's closeness to Ai-Ai had no bearing on the latter's victory," said Lacierda, who served as chairman of MMFF board of judges.

He pointed out that the "jurors decided on the basis of each individual's performance" and based on the evaluation of the criteria, "delas Alas obtained the highest score."

"Her performance was well rounded and I believe that if one would decide to watch the eight entries, one would have agreed with the decision," Lacierda said.

He noted that there was no way he could also influence other juror's judgment because they rated the movies separately.

"Once a movie was screened, the jurors immediately evaluated the movie. So, we wouldn't remember how one rated the performance of each actor or actress," he said.

There were speculations that delas Alas was able to bag the best actress award for the last installment of her movie comedy movie "Tanging Ina" because of her close friendship to Kris.

The controversy in the MMFF awarding even worsened when actress Jennylyn Mercado, who was highly expected to be included in the nominees for best actress for her performance in the movie "Rosario", did not make it on the list. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)