‘Firsts’ in 2nd Golden Screen Awards

The Second Golden Screen Awards of the Entertainment Press Society or ENPRESS, held Saturday night at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in Makati City, chalked up a few "firsts," including, 1) it was the first awards held in that venue, covered live by GMA, 2) it was the first awards that gave two major Best Acting (Actor and Actress) awards, one for musical-comedy and the other for drama, and 3) it was the first awards that didn’t feature so many song-dance numbers (thank heavens!).

Also, it was the first awards where an awardee, Ara Mina (Best Supporting Actress for Minsan Pa), was present, all right, at the start of the ceremonies but was "missing" when her name was announced as winner, only to show up towards the end, trophy in hand, to deliver a belated thank-you speech, saying she was "outside" (the building) when she was called as winner.

The ENPRESS, with Jun Nardo as president, is a newly-formed group with breakway members of the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) as officers and members. It likes to call itself the "counterpart" of the Hollywood foreign press which gives the annual Golden Globe Awards. The PMPC has its own Star Awards (for Television and for Movies).