Armida Siguion-Reyna was born as Armida Liwanag Ponce Enrile on November 4, 1930 in Malabon, the daughter of Alfonso Ponce Enrile, her Spanish mestizo father who was a lawyer and regional politician, and Purita Liwanag, her mother who was one of the early graduates of the University of the Philippines College of Music. Siguion-Reyna spent her childhood with her parents and siblings in their house in Malabon. She studied at the Far Eastern University and Philippine Women's University, which are both in Manila. She also studied at the United States for her high school and college education. She completed high school at Academy of St. Joseph in New York, although, she did not finish her college studies at the Georgian Court University in New Jersey after being broken-hearted. When Siguion-Reyna was 18 years of age, she and her sister, artist Irma Potenciano, met their half-brother Juan Ponce Enrile who was 21 years old then.
Career
Theatrical roles
In the world of operas, Siguion-Reyna performed lead singing roles in "Lucia de Lammermoor," "Rigoletto," "La Traviata," "I Pagliacci," "The Merry Widow," and the zarzuela"Ang Mestiza".
Television
Siguion-Reyna was the presenter for the television programmes"Cooking Atbp." and the award-winning "Áawitan Kita". "Áawitan Kita" aired for over 30 years and was one of longest-running musical television shows in the Philippines.
Music
Siguion-Reyna recorded musical albums such as the two volumes of "Aawitan Kita", "Armida", and "Sa Lungkot at Saya... Aawitan Kita".
Film
In 1975, Siguion-Reyna was awarded best supporting actress during the Bacolod Film Festival for her performance in the film "Sa Pagitan ng Dalawang Langit". Later on she would be well known for collaborations with big names actresses such as Alma Moreno and a kontrabida to actresses Vilma Santos and Nora Aunor in several films. She is well known for also co-producing films with her son and having Maricel Soriano and Rosanna Roces in films and Dawn Zulueta these actresses have been in two films of Siguion-Reyna.
Producer
As a producer, Siguion-Reyna produced and starred in her own 16-mm film musicals entitled "Dung-aw,""Lakambini,""Supremo", "Pagpatak ng Ulan", and "Sisa." She had two film production companies. Her Pera Films company produced the movies "Laruang Apoy" and "Bilanggong Birhen". She managed Reyna Films Company with her son Carlitos, who was a two-time award recipient.
As a public servant
During the Presidency of Joseph Estrada, Siguion-Reyna was appointed as the chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in 1998. She was known to be an advocate of freedom of speech and artistic liberties in film. Even before she became the chairperson of MTRCB, she fought against censorship and together with peers like Lino Brocka, Behn Cervantes and Ishmael, they had protested the actions of Siguion-Reyna's predecessors, specifically Manuel Morato and Henrietta Mendez. When she was MTRCB's chair, her board members consisted of anti-censorship people. They were lenient in rating films to be shown publicly in theaters. Though, she was criticized for being biased on film produced by her own production outfit and by her friends. She countered her critics and said that the board did not grant permits to films showing purely sexual content and thus, the films were given X-rating, which means that those films were not suitable to be shown in cinemas. Her term ended in 2001 after Estrada was ousted through the Second EDSA Revolution.
Death
Siguion-Reyna died of cancer in Makati at the age of 88, on February 11, 2019.
