summarized her experience doing the film as "very liberating": "Making an indie film gives you some sort of freedom... you can just let it all out... all of a sudden you have the permission to do anything you want." The film premiered at the 8th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and she was jointly awarded Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress with Calzado, de Belen, and Isidro. Santos then returned as a presenter on the first season of MasterChef Pinoy Edition, which premiered in November 2012. The following month, she co-starred with Vic Sotto and Bong Revilla Jr. in Si Agimat, si Enteng Kabisote at si Ako. Santos began 2013 with the drama series Huwag Ka Lang Mawawala playing an abused wife seeking revenge. Nestor Torre Jr. from the Philippine Daily Inquirer dismissed her performance as "too melodramatically achieved, and at times [Santos's] assumption of vengeful power... was too easily pulled off", concluding that the "key thematic intention of female empowerment wasn't sufficiently earned on a realistic level". In October 2013, Santos hosted Bet on Your Baby, based on the original American show of the same name. 2014–present: Independent films and comedies In 2014, Santos was cast in the supernatural horror T'yanak, an abridged retelling of Lore Reyes and Peque Gallagas 1988 film of the same name, in which she played an adoptive mother to a demonic infant. An admirer of the directors' work, she considered the film "a dream come true". Production of the film was completed in eight days and it premiered at the Sineng Pambansa Horror Plus Film Festival. Gallaga said, "Every time she went before the camera, she surprised me. I am amazed by her ability to easily cry." That year, she returned to television as a presenter in I Do. Santos did not make any screen appearances in 2015, but returned in Kusina, an independent film directed by David Corpuz and Cenon Palomares in 2016. It was adapted from Palomares's Palanca Award-winning script, and premiered at the 12th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. The film and Santos's performance garnered critical acclaim; Ricky Calderon from The Philippine Star wrote, "Santos delivers a knockout performance... we can't think of any other actress to play the role", and praised the film for its "use of daring dramatic license and minimalist theatrical devices". Film critic Mari-An Santos lauded the "gentle storytelling approach associated with theater", and asserted that "this is not