Vilma Santos

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

She was elected as the Representative for the Lone District of Lipa, Batangas in 2016. She was urged 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, although 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.

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).

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.

Maria Rosa Vilma Santos-Recto (born November 3, 1953) is a highly distinguished Filipino actress and politician. She is known as the Star for all Seasons for her various roles in different genres of her movies and holds the titles of Grand Slam Queen, Queen of Queens, and as 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 title. Santos is also a prominent politician, and had served as Governor of Batangas for three consecutive terms and as mayor of Lipa City for also three consecutive terms.