Liza Diño hopes to clear MMFF issue with fellow beauty queen Celine Pialago

Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Chair Liza Diño has expressed her interest for a dialogue with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Spokesperson Celine Pialago over her removal from the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) executive committee.

“Sana magkita kami at, alam ko beauty queen siya. So baka may commonality doon na at some point in my life naging beauty queen din ako, so sana makapag-usap kami,” Dino told Lhar Santiago on “24 Oras” Tuesday.

Diño was a Mutya ng Pilipinas runner-up in 2001 while Pialago was a candidate on Miss Philippines Earth in 2014.

The FDCP chair earlier said she was “very offended and very disappointed” with MMDA Chair Danilo Lim’s decision to oust her from the film festival committee. “Kasi the wording, it was a very strongly worded document,” she said.

“Bilang ahensya at nirerepresenta ko ay isang institusyon, hindi din maganda na napaka-personal nung atake,” she added.

According to reports last week, Lim sent a letter to Diño accusing her of attempting to transfer MMFF’s management from MMDA to FDCP.  

On July 20, Pialago released an unsigned and undated document from FDCP that stated that the MMFF should be transferred to the council. 

FDCP had since clarified that the document was a 2017 position paper sent to MMFF for comments.

Pialago, however, said there was no personal animosity between her and Diño.

“Normal lang naman po na ang maging reaction ko ay ipagtanggol po ang aming ahensya. ’Yun lang naman po. Hindi ko pinepersonal kay Diño, hindi ko pinepersonal sa FDCP,” said the MMDA spokesperson.

Both Diño and Pialago said they hoped to meet in person to resolve the issue.

According to MMFF spokersperson Noel Ferrer, the plans for this year’s festival and promotional campaigns depend on the health protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He also said the new executive committee member replacing Diño would be announced tomorrow.

“One of them is a major major, very respected member of our industry. We’re giving that person the letter today para naman hindi sa social media malaman na na-appoint siya but tomorrow we can announce,” he said. – Kaela Malig/RC, GMA News