Vilma Santos-Recto

Although she's eligible to run for a third term, and due to speculations that she might run for a national post, Santos-Recto decided not to seek another term, nor run in any position in the 2022 elections, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 10, 2020, she is one of the 11 representatives who voted favor to grant ABS-CBN's legislative franchise. in which she supported the network's cause for the people and culture. ABS-CBN is also responsible for the restoration of some of her films as well as preservation, which includes Kapag Langit ang Humatol, Anak, Haplos, and Dekada '70.

In September 2018, she switched from the Liberal Party, where she was a member since 2009, to the Nacionalista Party.

Santos is also a prominent politician, and had served as governor of Batangas for three consecutive terms and as mayor of Lipa for also three consecutive terms. She was elected as the Representative for the Lone District of Lipa, Batangas in 2016. She was encouraged by various political parties to run for the Senate in 2019, but refused to do so.

In 2007, Santos-Recto was on her third and final term as Mayor of Lipa and was barred for seeking another term. She became a reluctant candidate for Governor of Batangas as her brother-in-law, incumbent Vice Governor Richard Recto, is seeking the governorship.

On March 5, 2007, during the regular flag-raising ceremony at the Lipa City Hall, Santos-Recto ask for a week to decide if she will run or not. This was attended by thousands of her supporters not only in Lipa but from different towns in Batangas. On March 12, 2007, she made her final decision, running for Governor of Batangas despite having her brother-in-law as her rival, including incumbent governor Arman Sanchez and former police chief Nestor Sanares.

Santos-Recto was proclaimed Governor-elect of the province of Batangas on May 21, 2007, after garnering 475,740 votes against incumbent Arman Sanchez's 344,969 becoming the first female governor of the province of Batangas. Governor Santos-Recto was reelected Governor of Batangas during the May 2010 elections defeating incumbent Santo Tomas Mayor Edna Sanchez, who substituted her husband Arman Sanchez who died on April 27, 2010, and again, reelected as Governor of Batangas during the May 2013 elections and her last term being a Governor.

In 2005, the University of the Philippines Diliman conferred on her the Gawad Plaridel Award for her achievements and contributions both as an actress and a public servant. In the same year she was conferred an honorary doctorate degree (honoris causa) in humanities by the Lipa City College. She was again honored in 2006 by UP Diliman as one of the four awardees in UP's First Diwata Awards.

Vilma Santos is widely considered as the most lastingly successful Filipino film and television actress of all time. She was adjudged as the greatest movie actress of the Philippines for the years 2000 to 2020 by the Philippine Entertainment Portal for her continued portrayal of a wide range of award-winning roles as well as for being a consistent box-office draw despite being in the industry for nearly six decades. Vilma's venture into politics made her semi-retire from showbusiness in the late 1990's yet she still emerged as the actress with the most number of local best actress awards so far in the 21st century.

In 1998, she entered politics and ran for mayor of Lipa City, Batangas where she won three consecutive elections, becoming the city's first female mayor.

She started her acting career when one of her uncles, who was a cameraman at Sampaguita Pictures, convinced her to try out for the movies. Initially, Sampaguita Pictures had planned a child star role for her in Anak, Ang Iyong Ina (1969). When Santos was in the studio, she noticed a long line of little girls. Thinking that that line was the line for her audition, she decided to queue in. The long line turned out to be for an audition for Sampaguita Pictures' offering Trudis Liit (Little Trudis).

She was cast in Sa Bawat Pintig ng Puso (1964), Maria Cecilia (1965), Kasalanan Kaya? (1968), Iginuhit ng Tadhana (1965) and later in its sequel Pinagbuklod ng Langit (1969).

Her career as an actress has spanned more than five decades, beginning when she debuted as a child actress in the 1963 film Trudis Liit, for which she won her first FAMAS Award (Best Child Performer). She won the FAMAS Award for Best Actress for her dual role in Dama de Noche (1972). She has portrayed the superhero Darna in four films beginning with Lipad, Darna, Lipad! (1973). Santos produced Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak (1978), which won both the FAMAS Award for Best Picture and the Gawad Urian for Best Film. In local media, she has been referred to as "Star for All Seasons" for the varied genres of her films and holds the titles of Grand Slam Queen, Queen of Queens, and the Longest Reigning Box Office Queen of Philippine Cinema. She was hailed as the enduring Grand Dame of the Philippine Film Industry by a foreign critic at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, the first Filipina actress to be bestowed such a tile.

When it was her turn to audition, she was asked by the panel to sing, dance and cry on cue. She got the part of "Trudis Liit" for which she received the FAMAS Awards Best Child Performer award for 1963.

Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos-Recto (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈsantɔs ˈrɛktɔ], born November 3, 1953) is a Filipino actress, singer, dancer, TV host, producer, and politician. She served as a House Deputy Speaker from 2019 to 2022 and as the Representative of Batangas' 6th district from 2016 to 2022.