In 2007, Santos-Recto was on her third and final term as Mayor of Lipa and was barred for seeking another term. Vilma Santos - the Enduring Grand Dame of Philippine Cinema She was again honored in 2006 by UP Diliman as one of the four awardees in UP's First Diwata Awards. In the same year she was conferred an honorary doctorate degree ( honoris causa) in humanities by the Lipa City College. In 2005, the University of the Philippines Diliman conferred on her the Gawad Plaridel Award for her achievements and contributions both as an actress and a public servant. In 1998, she entered politics and ran for mayor of Lipa City, Batangas where she won three consecutive elections, becoming the city's first female mayor. She was cast in Sa Bawat Pintig ng Puso (1964), Maria Cecilia (1965), Kasalanan Kaya? (1968), Iginuhit ng Tadhana (1965) and later in its sequel Pinagbuklod ng Langit (1969). She got the part of "Trudis Liit" for which she received the FAMAS Awards Best Child Performer award for 1963. When it was her turn to audition, she was asked by the panel to sing, dance and cry on cue. The long line turned out to be for an audition for Sampaguita Pictures' offering Trudis Liit ( Little Trudis).
Thinking that that line was the line for her audition, she decided to queue in. When Santos was in the studio, she noticed a long line of little girls. Initially, Sampaguita Pictures had planned a child star role for her in Anak, Ang Iyong Ina (1969). She started her acting career when one of her uncles, who was a cameraman at Sampaguita Pictures, convinced her to try out for the movies. Vilma's venture into politics made her semi-retire from showbusiness in the late 1990's yet she still emerged as the actress with the most number of local best actress awards so far in the 21st century.
She was adjudged as the greatest movie actress of the Philippines for the years 2000 to 2020 by the Philippine Entertainment Portal for her continued portrayal of a wide range of award-winning roles as well as for being a consistent box-office draw despite being in the industry for nearly six decades. Vilma Santos is widely considered as the most lastingly successful Filipino film and television actress of all time. She was encouraged by various political parties to run for the Senate in 2019, but refused to do so. She was elected as the Representative for the Lone District of Lipa, Batangas in 2016. Santos is also a prominent politician, and had served as governor of Batangas for three consecutive terms and as mayor of Lipa for also three consecutive terms. She was hailed as the enduring Grand Dame of the Philippine Film Industry by a foreign critic at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, the first Filipina actress to be bestowed such a tile. In local media, she has been referred to as "Star for All Seasons" for the varied genres of her films and holds the titles of Grand Slam Queen, Queen of Queens, and the Longest Reigning Box Office Queen of Philippine Cinema. Santos produced Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak (1978), which won both the FAMAS Award for Best Picture and the Gawad Urian for Best Film. She has portrayed the superhero Darna in four films beginning with Lipad, Darna, Lipad! in 1973. She won the FAMAS Award for Best Actress for her dual role in Dama de Noche (1972). Her career as an actress has spanned more than five decades, beginning when she debuted as a child actress in the 1963 film Trudis Liit, for which she won her first FAMAS Award (Best Child Performer).
She served as a House Deputy Speaker since 2019 to 2022 and as the Representative of Batangas' 6th district since 2016 to 2022.
Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos-Recto ( Tagalog pronunciation:, born November 3, 1953) is a Filipino actress, singer, dancer, TV host, producer, and politician.