Awarded actress turned Batangas Governor Vilma Santos is not interested to run as Vice President, unless of course she is pushed hard again. And knowing Ate Vi, as she is fondly called in the realm of showbiz, if she doesn’t like an idea, most certainly she won’t cling to it nor do it!

“I don’t like running for a national position. I’m not ready. If I would run again, it would be for a re-election as governor of Batangas because I already laid out my plans, I started them and I would like to continue them,” shared Ate Vi during a recently held press conference for her comeback TV project with ABS-CBN entitled “A Woman for All Seasons.”

“That is not my ambition but if it is my destiny, then I can’t fight my destiny,” she added.

Like the idea of running for Vice President, her TV show under ABS-CBN almost never materialized because according to Ate Vi, she didn’t like the “ideas” or concepts thrown to her two years ago about her TV project with the Kapamilya Network. It can be remembered that her return to television was announced years back by ABS-CBN but there was never a Vilma Santos TV show that was churned out.

“They’ve been planning to give me a TV special for two years already but I didn’t agree to their ideas. First they would tackle how long I’ve been in showbiz, then they wanted me to celebrate my Golden Year in showbiz. Ayaw ko nga mag-Golden, 38 years old lang ako noon. That’s why we didn’t have a special show before. Ngayon lang,” Ate Vi laughed.

According to her, she didn’t allow ABS-CBN to give her a “tribute show” because she wanted a more meaningful show for her fans and televiewers. It’s a comeback TV project and she wanted it to be a memorable one as well.

So when the concept of showcasing the many sides of Vilma Santos was opened to her, Ate Vi became more enthusiastic of her comeback TV project. Thus, the “Vilma: A Woman for all Seasons” was born – a five weekend special in documentary-magazine and reality TV format that would chronicle the life of Vilma Santos from when she started her life as a public servant.

“We’ve really discussed for a long time now what we could offer to the public. And I told them I really wanted it to be different. So when they told me that it would be about my different sides, I said yes because I can share my experiences. I didn’t have a hard time because I liked the idea,” said Ate Vi.

Initially, the said TV project was supposed to run for two hours only. But after presenting it to ABS-CBN management, they decided that it would be better to expand it to a series for viewers to get to know Ate Vi better in her different facets and persona.

“Vi has a lot to share because she is very rich in experience as a movie and TV icon, a mother, a Governor, and wife,” injected friend and Executive Producer Chit Guerrero. “This is a breakthrough show because this has never been done on television!”

Already in showbiz since she was nine years old, Ate Vi felt that a good way of giving back to the public is by imparting the wisdom she gained from her hard climb to success as an actress and even as a politician. And with new actors and actresses, she also felt that giving them her advice might be of help to their budding careers.

“An example of my sharing was during the workshop episode with ABS-CBN talents that I felt I was presenting at the University of the Philippines…nilinaw ko sa kanila na it was part of my sharing and I wasn’t saying that it was because I was a good actress. It was more of me telling them about my experiences,” she related.

The workshop is part of the first episode of “A Woman for all Season” series which will start airing on Aug. 1. It will be hosted by Claudine Barretto whom Vilma Santos worked with in the dramatic movie “Anak” and it will discuss her being an actress and her achievements like being a Best Actress Grand Slam winner from various award winning bodies and a Lifetime Achievement Awardee from Cinemanila and the Film Academy of the Philippines.

The workshop she raved about was a “special acting workshop” Ate Vi collaborated with director Laurice Guillen for hand-picked Star Magic talents like Kim Chiu, Coco Martin, Bugoy and Nikki Gil among others.

“Yung mga artista ngayon napaka-swerte nila because they have television and with TFC, popular sila agad. Unlike kami before that we have to go to the provinces para magpakilala. They are the new breed of stars kasi. Ako whatever I reached, nakuha ko ito dahil pinagtrabahuan ko at ikinayod ko talaga,” reminisced Ate Vi.

The workshop would also feature some actresses and actors who would reprise on stage the roles of Vilma Santos from movies like “Dolzura Cortez” and “Broken Marriage.”

“I’m just very lucky that I’ve worked with the best directors. And it doesn’t mean that if you win an award you’re already a good actress. That’s not true. Non-stop learning ang acting and I learned every time I worked with a different director,” shared Ate Vi.

The next episode, airing on Aug. 8, comedian, dancer and TV host Vhong Navarro will talk about Vilma as a TV host, dancer and a performer. Her days of “Vilma in Person” or “VIP”will be relived with long-time friend Maribeth Bichara who choreographed her difficult dance routines before. There would also be a dance workshop which will be participated in by popular TV personalities and actresses Shaina Magdayao, Angelica Panganiban, Iya Villania, Empress Shuck, Nina Dolino, Princess Ryan and Dianne Medina.

“I danced here for fun but not in a production number. Ibinigay ko na sa mga bagets. All I shared with them were the emotions and actions that I used to give in every dance number,” quipped Ate Vi.

The third episode is an exclusive look into the private life of Vilma Santos. She welcomes televiewers into her home in Alabang for the first time and show them how she spends time with her family. It will be hosted by Angel Locsin. Then the fourth episode will be about Vilma Santos as an empowered Filipina leader as the Governor of Batangas and as a UP Gawad Plaridel Awardee for her achievements as an actress and a public servant.

The fifth episode of “A Woman for all Seasons” is the making of “In My Life,” her comeback movie under Star Cinema which was shot in New York City and which co-stars her with son Luis Manzano and John Lloyd Cruz.

So would Ate Vi’s “affairs of the heart” be showcased also in her TV special?

“Hindi eh. Sayang,” she heartily laughed!

“Every episode is special in my heart because this is the first time I did such TV show. Everything is memorable…I even want the whole series in a DVD because everything that happened in the workshop won’t be aired so sayang. Ang ganda-ganda talaga ng project na ito!”

A TV special with depth, get to know Vilma Santos and also be nourished with Ate Vi’s rich experience and wisdom in “Vilma: A Woman for all Seasons” starting on Aug. 1 on ABS-CBN.