The Heritage Park, Taguig City
April 21, 2025

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos paid their last respects to National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts, Nora Aunor (Nora Cabaltera Villamayor in real life), as they visited the wake of the late “Superstar” at the Heritage Park, Taguig City.

The family of the National Artist announced her passing last Wednesday, 16 April 2025. She was 71.

According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Nora Aunor appeared in over 170 films and received numerous local and foreign recognitions. She was the “Best Actress” at the Quezon City Film Festival in 1972 for her role in “And God Smiled at Me”. She earned her first Best Actress honors from Gawad Urian and the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS) in 1976 for “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos.”

Years after, the late artist won all the Best Actress awards from the 1990 Gawad Urian, FAMAS, Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP), Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) and Philippine Movie Press Club for her acting prowess in Gil Portes’ “Andrea, Paano ba ang Maging Isang Ina?”

In 1992, she was elevated to the FAMAS Hall of Fame, then bestowed the FAP Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. Alongside these accolades, she was named by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) as one of the 100 Filipinos who made significant contributions to culture and the arts in the 20th century; given the Centennial Honors for the Arts by the CCP; emerged as Best Actress in the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Award in 2012 and became the first Filipino actor to be inducted as a member of the Asia-Pacific Screen Academy; and again won Best Actress at the 7th Asian Film Awards the following year.

In television, Nora Aunor hosted a musical variety show for more than 20 years, as well as demonstrated her extraordinary skills and talents in two (2) major productions by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA).

President Marcos Jr. offered his heartfelt condolences to Nora Aunor’s loved ones and the entire film industry, and called for his countrymen’s prayers for the eternal repose of the soul of the beloved National Artist.

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