Dennis Trillo, 'Saving Grace' win at Asian Creative Academy Awards 2025

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December 5, 2025 | 10:51am

MANILA, Philippines — Kapuso actor Dennis Trillo and ABS-CBN's adaptation of "Saving Grace" starring Julia Montes were the sole Filipino winners at this year's Asian Creative Academy Awards.

The large showcase of content from across the Asia-Pacific region featured a record-breaking 331 contenders from 16 countries. The 2025 awarding ceremony was held in Singapore's Capitol Theatre last December 4.

Dennis Trillo won Best Lead Actor for his role in "Green Bones," beating the likes of Park Bo-Gum ("When Life Gives You Tangerines"), Vic Chou ("The World Between Us: After the Flames" Season 2) and Jacob Elordi ("The Narrow Road to the Deep North").

"Green Bones" previously earned Trillo the same award in the Metro Manila Film Festival, Gawad Urian Awards and PMPC Star Awards for Movies.

"Saving Grace," meanwhile, won Best Adaptation of an Existing Format (Scripted), a category that also had Thailand's version of "Good Doctor" and Indonesia's popular series "Bad Guys."

The series is Asia's most exported scripted format about an elementary teacher who takes in one of her students who was being abused, leading to a national manhunt.

In the cast for ABS-CBN's version of the show with Julia Montes are Janice de Belen, Sam Milby, Jennica Garcia, Christian Bables, and Sharon Cuneta.

The two wins follow the Philippines going home emptyhanded in last year's edition, meaning the country's last wins were in 2023.

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That year saw drag queen Manila Luzon win Best Entertainment Host for "Drag Den" and broadcast journalist Rico Hizon win Best Factual Presenter for "The Final Word."

Japanese and Singaporean content won six awards each to lead all winners, followed by the five respective wins of Korea and India.

China and Hong Kong both won four awards, the former's tally including Best Feature Film for "MuMu" and Best Drama Series for "Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty: To The West."

The Philippines' competitor in each category were "Isang Himala" and "Incognito." According to organizers, "Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty: To The West" beat Korea's "When Life Gives You Tangerines" by just 0.006 points.

Singapore's nine-year-old Ivory Chia made history as the youngest winning actor in the Asian Creative Academy Awards' history after winning Best Supporting Actress in a tiebreaker vote for "Emerald Hill – The Little Nyonya Story."

In Chia's category were Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung for the second season of "Pachinko" and the Philippines' Dimples Romana for "The Caretakers."

Japan's Yuriyan Retriever of Netflix's "The Queen of Villains" won the hotly contested Best Lead Actress competition that featured Cate Blanchett ("Disclaimer"), Kim Min-ha ("Pachinko"), and Jodi Sta. Maria ("Untold").

Other notable winners include Japan's Netflix hit "My Melody & Kuromi" for Best Animation, Taiwan's "Granny Must Die" for Best Single Drama/Telemovie/Anthology Episode, and the 2024 MAMA Awards for Best General Entertainment Program.

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