MANILA (UPDATED) — Fantasy film "Firefly" emerged as the Best Picture even as the historical movie "Gomburza" walked away with the most awards during the 49th Metro Manila Film Festival Gabi ng Parangal, Wednesday night in Quezon City.

"Firefly," starring Alessandra de Rossi and child actor Euwenn Mikaell, earned Best Picture honors aside from Best Screenplay for Angeli Atienza and Best Child Performer for Mikaell.

In his acceptance speech, director Zig Dulay credited the success of "Firefly" to their entire team.

"Binuo talaga siya mula sa puso. Salamat sa lahat ng artista, maraming salamat sa mga boss namin sa pagtitiwala sa 'Firefly'," he said. "Inaalay namin ang pelikula sa lahat ng taong naniniwala sa kapangyarihan ng pangarap, kapangyarihan ng pag-ibig, at kapangyarihan ng sining."

"Gomburza" was the 2nd Best Picture and also won the Best Actor for Cedrick Juan and Best Director for Pepe Diokno. They also bagged the award for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award.

"Maraming-maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat dahil sumugal po kayo sa akin sa katulad ko na nagmamahal sa pag-arte, maraming-maraming salamat teatro," said Juan upon receiving his trophy.

"Mallari," starring Piolo Pascual, was the 3rd Best Picture and also took home the Best Supporting Actor award for JC Santos.

"When I Met You In Tokyo" was the 4th Best Picture while Vilma Santos earned Best Actress honors for her role in the film.

Santos could not help but become emotional after receiving her award, which she said was unexpected.

"Hindi ko po ine-expect ito. Ang adbokasiya lang po namin talaga when we made When I Met You In Tokyo, it's not even the Best Actress or Best Actor. We just wanted to do a simple love story," she said.

Their ultimate goal, said Santos, was for all the movies of the MMFF to succeed in order to breathe life into the industry.

"Ang talagang adbokasiya po namin ay maging successful ang Metro Manila Film Festival, and at the same time, mabalik po sana 'yung mga tao sa sine. 'Yun po ang aming inasam-asam," she said.

"With these ten movies that are showing right now, bumabalik po ang mga tao sa sine. Sana ho, magtuloy-tuloy kasi ito ho ang kailangan ng atin pong industriya, na ma-appreciate po nila ulit ang panonood sa sine. I think it's happening now, sana po ay tuloy-tuloy," she added.

Santos went on to dedicate the award to her fellow nominees, including Sharon Cuneta and Marian Rivera.

Here are the winners of the 49th Metro Manila Film Festival.

• Best Picture: "Firefly"
• 2nd Best Picture: "Gomburza"
• 3rd Best Picture: "Mallari"
• 4th Best Picture: "When I Met You In Tokyo"
• Best Actor: Cedrick Juan for "Gomburza"
• Best Actress: Vilma Santos for "When I Met You In Tokyo"
• Best Supporting Actor: JC Santos for "Mallari"
• Best Supporting Actress: Miles Ocampo for "Family Of Two"
• Best Director: Pepe Diokno for "Gomburza"
• Best Screenplay: Angeli Atienza for "Firefly"
• Best Child Performer: Euwann Mikaell of "Firefly"
• Best Cinematography: Carlo Canlas Mendoza for "Gomburza"
• Best Editing: Benjamin Tolentino for "(K)ampon"
• Best Production Design: Ericson Navarro for "Gomburza"
• Best Original Theme Song: "Finggah Lickin" from "Becky and Badette"
• Best Visual Effects: Gaspar Mangarin for "Mallari"
• Best Musical Score: Von de Guzman for "Mallari"
• Best Sound: Melvin Q. Rivera and Louie Boy Bauson for "Gomburza"
• Gender Sensitivity Award: "Becky and Badette"
• FPJ Memorial Award for Excellence: "When I Met You In Tokyo"
• Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award: "Gomburza"
• Marichu Vera Perez Maceda Memorial Award: Mother Lily Yu Monteverde
• Best Float: "When I Met You In Tokyo"

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