Dannyka Manangan

WHO SAID THIS: Viveka Babajee’s role in the 1994 Manila Film Festival scandal

Article (news)

Peter Andrew Acierto

Push Team

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1756964063380WST-Aug_RL-VibekaBabajee.png" style="width:600px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><em>Content Warning: This article contains a discussion on self-harm.</em></div><p>“Take it! Take it!”</p><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVmCrh2D5UC/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A126608.69999998808%2C%22ls%22%3A126199.09999999404%2C%22le%22%3A126202.89999999106%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="495" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>These were the words that could be heard from the late beauty queen Viveka Babajee as they wrongly announced the winners of the Best Actor and Best Actress at the 1994 Manila Film Festival awards night. With her on stage were Gretchen Barretto and Rocky Gutierrez when everything happened.</p><p>Ruffa Gutierrez and Gabby Concepcion were announced as the Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively, of the 1994 Manila Film Festival. But in reality, they weren’t the winners at all–– it was Aiko Melendez and Edu Manzano who actually won. </p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/celebrities/2025/7/4/throwback-the-colorful-life-of-lolit-solis-in-the-entertainment-industry-1034"><strong>READ: THROWBACK: The colorful life of Lolit Solis in the entertainment industry</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><p>Immediately after the event, then-mayor Alfredo Lim made sure to correct the results and announced the real winners. This made a massive impact on everyone involved–– people were mocked and accusations were thrown everywhere.</p><p>An investigation was created in order to know who was behind all of this. Gretchen testified and shared what she heard at the time and what happened with the real results. The trophies were also asked to be returned and be given to its rightful owners. </p><p>It would be then revealed that the late Lolit Solis would be the mastermind as she did it for Gabby who was her talent back then. Considered as one of the biggest controversies in the history of the Philippine entertainment industry, Lolit, apologized for the incident years later.</p><p>She claimed that the event was the biggest lesson of her life as she learned so much from it even years after it happened. She has since then asked for forgiveness from all the parties involved in the scandal and has shared more about it on her Instagram when she was still alive.  </p><p>Despite everything that had happened, the lives of these actors have moved forward–– others continued acting, while others gave politics a shot. For Viveka, she would later on commit suicide in her apartment in Mumbai, India. </p><p>She was found hanging from the ceiling fan in 2010 and police reports stated that it was due to depression. Her suicide and the 1994 Manila Film Festival scandal had no correlation as the former was rumored to be about her relationship with her ex-boyfriend.  </p><div><br/></div><div><em>* If you or a loved one is in need of help, contact the National Center for Mental Health crisis hotline at 1553 Luzon-wide landline toll-free. For Globe/TM subscribers, call, 0966 351 4518 or 0917 899 8727 (USAP). For Smart/Sun/ TNT subscribers, call 0908 639 2672. You may contact their Facebook page at ncmhcrisishotline and on Twitter @ncmhhotline.</em></div>

<p>The 1994 Manila Film Festival Scandal is one of the biggest controversies in Philippine Entertainment history.</p>

The 1994 Manila Film Festival Scandal is one of the biggest controversies in Philippine Entertainment history.