Vilma Santos

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.

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 the same year she was conferred an honorary doctorate degree (honoris causa) in humanities by the Lipa City College. She was again honored in 2006 by UP Diliman as one of the four awardees in UP's First Diwata Awards.

In 2007, Santos-Recto was on her third and final term as Mayor of Lipa and was barred for seeking another term. She became a reluctant candidate for Governor of Batangas, although her brother-in-law, incumbent Vice Governor Richard Recto is seeking the governorship.

On March 5, 2007, during the regular flag-raising ceremony at the Lipa City Hall, Santos-Recto ask for a week to decide if she will run or not. This was attended by thousands of her supporters not only in Lipa but from different towns in Batangas. On March 12, 2007, she made her final decision, running for Governor of Batangas despite having her brother-in-law as her rival, including incumbent governor Arman Sanchez and former police chief Nestor Sanares.

Santos-Recto was proclaimed Governor-elect of the province of Batangas on May 21, 2007 after garnering 475,740 votes against incumbent Arman Sanchez's 344,969 becoming the first female governor of the province of Batangas. Governor Santos-Recto was reelected Governor of Batangas during the May 2010 elections defeating incumbent Santo Tomas Mayor Edna Sanchez, who substituted her husband Arman Sanchez who died on April 27, 2010, and again, reelected as Governor of Batangas during the May 2013 elections and her last term being a Governor.

In September 2018, she switched from the Liberal Party, where she was a member since 2009, to the Nacionalista Party.

In 2020, she is one of the eleven congressmen who voted "no" to reject ABS-CBN's franchise in which she supported the network's cause for the people and culture. ABS-CBN is also responsible for the restoration of some of her films as well as preservation.

Vilma Santos turns 64 with TV special – The Manila Times

The two-part “Magandang Buhay” special that featured Star For All Seasons Vilma Santos as lone celebrity guest were pre-taped earlier at the studio of ABS-CBN. Originally scheduled as birthday tribute for airing in two installments to coincide with her birthday on November 3, it was shown earlier as one of the hosts, Jolina Magdangal, was […]