Gloria Diaz-First Filipina to be crowned Miss Universe

Gloria Diaz-Bb. Pilipinas Universe 1969

She won the title MISS UNIVERSE 1969


Gloria Maria Aspillera Diaz (born 1950) is a veteran in Philippine cinema, and the first Filipino to bring home the Miss Universe crown.

Díaz was born in the Ilocos region of Northern Philippines. Often referred to as one of the Díaz clan in newspapers, Díaz was one of 12 children. One of her sisters, Rio Diaz-Cojuangco, was also a Filipino actress and beauty titlist, who fell ill with colon cancer and died after a six-year battle.

1969 Miss Universe

Díaz was only eighteen when she became Miss Universe of 1969 after outsmarting other candidates on the question on how to welcome the first men that had just landed on the moon--Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins--as soon as they were back on the planet. She was crowned in the international American-owned pageant in 1969 in Florida, USA after their footage was set on the Statue of Liberty in New York.











Gloria Diaz: Gorgeous at 55

By Ricky Lo

If a man on the moon would come down, how would you entertain him?

“I guess since he has been in the moon so long he would enjoy anything that an ordinary man would.”

With that witty answer to a question popped to the five finalists by host Bob Barker, Gloria Diaz, 18, bagged the country’s first Miss Universe crown, with the headlines saying America conquered the moon, because Neil Armstrong took the first ever human step on the moon at the time the 1969 Miss Universe Pageant was being held in Miami, Florida (37 years ago this month), but “the Philippines conquered the Universe!”
It was the first time that the Miss Universe Pageant posed the question to the five finalists. The final question was an off and on feature of the pageant until in 1990 when it had taken root and every pageant since then had the finalists answer a final question.

If asked the same question today, how do you think Gloria Diaz , 55, would answer?
Laughed Gloria, “I would say, ‘I’ll give him a cellphone so he can text me’.”
Cellphones were not even a seed in the electronic mind of inventors during that “Gloria in Excelsis!” era. Since then, so many things have changed.

Gloria joined showbiz after she relinquished her crown and introduced the “wet look” with her first movie, Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa; survived a marriage to best friend Bong Daza with whom she has two beautiful daughters, Isabelle (named after Gloria’s character in Pinakamagandang Hayop), 18 a Child Psychology sophomore at La Salle; and Ava, 15, high school junior at Assumption (which frowns on students whose photos appear in the media); plus adopted son Raphael (22, a second year college student at La Salle) who has made Gloria and Bong lola and lolo twice over.
Many other milestones have happened in the life of Gloria who is now happy with her beloved Mike de Jesus (a banker), a very private person who is the exact opposite of all the men linked to Gloria.

In the following conversation, Gloria recalls those days of glory and what else happened between then and now – and why she wouldn’t let any of her daughters follow in her Miss Universe footsteps.
What comes to your mind when you watch a beauty contest, especially a Miss Universe Pageant?

“You know, it’s funny but I don’t relate to the whole proceedings; I relate to the whole thing only when the winner’s name is announced. When I watch a beauty contest, I think of my kids, but not of myself joining. It has nothing to do with me. You know, if Isabelle ever joins a contest... I hope she never will. Even watching fashion shows, hindi ako maka-relate; I only think of my kids in it.”
How did you feel at that moment when the spotlight suddenly focuses on the new winner as soon as you put the crown on her head (her successor was Marisol Malaret of Puerto Rico)?

“That’s the reality. Just before the pageant, you are the focus and the center of everything. But as soon as you pass on your crown, you’re out; nasa sidelines ka na lang. I think they give you 48 hours to vacate the suite and you’re on your own. Baka ngayon, with Donald Trump, baka they give the Miss Universe only 24 hours. In fact, on the night you crown the new winner, you lose your limo; they give it to the new winner.”

Did you feel, you know, rejected?

“No. It’s just... how do you call it?...an awakening – reality striking back. When you are Miss Universe, everything seems so unreal, parang fairy tale. You can have anything you ask for. And then, after one year, it’s back to reality.”
What’s the best thing about being Miss Universe?
“I guess having done my best for the country.”

You’ll forever be the first Filipina Miss Universe.
“You know, the pressure during my time was not that big. The country had never won the crown so I, and the girls before me, were expected to do so. I think the pressure on the girls now is much, much more.”
And the worst, if any?
“I was 18 then and at that time uso ang mga disco and hanging around. I never experienced that phase of growing up. Parang that never happened in my life. Right away, I was working and traveling. I missed all the parties that girls my age were going to.”
Do you realize that that was 37 years ago?
“I know! Isn’t that awesome? Thirty-seven years and we are still around!”
What were your vital statistics when you won?
“34-24-34.”
And now?
“36-27-37.”
Has any part of your body been, well, “enhanced”?
“‘Renovated,’ you mean?”
In a way.
“Not yet, not yet! I don’t want to say never because that’s very difficult to say. But if I hit 60 and I haven’t done it, I guess I won’t. Not that I don’t need it. Nowadays, I’m not basically aware of beauty; I give it na to Isabelle and Ava – you know, sa inyo na ‘yan. I think I’m more aware now of my health. I eat mostly vegetables. I try to avoid fats and sugar.”
You are not the type who dwells on the past, are you? You know, like your failed marriage (to Bong Daza).
“No, I’m not. Bong and I are still good friends. But you know, don’t think that I don’t regret a few things.”
Like what?
“Maybe the thing about Vic Vargas (Who died a few years ago. – RFL). When I think about it now, I get cross, you know. But aside from that, only very few. My marriage to Bong? It wasn’t that bad.”
And you’re happy with Mike now.
“Of course! In fact, if not for Bong, I wouldn’t appreciate Mike.”
He seems to be the exact opposite of Bong.
“Yes, they are exact opposites. You know Bong, tell him that you want to have a party and he can organize one in 15 minutes. You can be sure that all those he invites will come. But Mike and I, even if we plan weeks in advance, if we invite 20 people baka five lang ang sumipot. Mike and Bong are okay. Sometimes pa nga the three of us eat out together.”
Which is more fulfilling, winning a Miss Universe crown or winning an acting award?
If you didn’t become Miss Universe, what would you have been today?
“Maybe I would have finished Law and become a lawmaker and a politician. Maybe I would have joined an NGO and done public service. But definitely, I would be married to somebody rich so I would be honest.”

source: Philpost

Filipina,Gloria Diaz,Miss Universe,Bong Daza

Corazon C. Aquino--Asia' s and Philippines' first Female President

María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (born January 25, 1933), widely known as 'Cory Aquino', was President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the first female President of The Philippines. She was Asia's first female President and world-renowned advocate of democracy, peace, women empowerment, and religious piety.

Aquino is the widow of the popular opposition senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., and when he was assassinated at then Manila International Airport on his return from exile on August 21, 1983, she became the focus of the opposition to the autocratic rule of President Ferdinand Marcos.

Corazon Cojuangco was born in Manila into one of the richest Chinese-mestizo families in the Philippines, the powerful Cojuangcos of Tarlac province. Her mother's family, the Sumulongs, also belong to a political Chinese Filipino family in Rizal.

Growing up in a privileged family, she was sent to St. Scholastica's College and finished grade school as class valedictorian in 1943. She was sent overseas to study in Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia (where Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco once studied), the Notre Dame Convent School in New York, and College of Mount Saint Vincent, also in New York. She studied liberal arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree major in French and minor in Mathematics in 1953. She intended to become a Math teacher and language interpreter.

She returned to the Philippines to study Law at Far Eastern University, owned by her cousin Don Nicanor Reyes. In 1955 she married Benigno Aquino, Jr.(Ninoy), who had just been elected mayor of Concepción in Tarlac province at the age of 22. They had five children together: a son, Benigno III, and four daughters, Maria Elena Aquino, Aurora Corazon Aquino, Victoria Eliza Aquino, and television host Kris Aquino.

source: wikipedia

Filipina,Gregoria de Jesus,Corazon Aquino,Kris Aquino

Gregoria de Jesus-Katipunan's Lakambini-Wife of Andres Bonifacio

Gregoria de Jesus

Gregoria was born in Kaloocan on May 15, 1875. Her parents were Jesus de Jesus who was a carpenter and served as gobernadorsillo while her mother was Baltazara Alvarez Francisco.


She married Andres Bonifacio in a Roman Catholic rites at the Binondo Church in 1894 and in another set of rites in the Katipunan in July 1893,the same time when the women’s chapter of the Katipunan was formed.Together with Marina Dizon, Josefa Rizal, Angelica Lopez, Delfina Herbosa and Benita Rodriguez, they were initiated as Katipunan members. She adopted the name Lakambini.

Gregoria and Andres had one child but the child died of small pox and their house in Sta. Cruz was burned. She was designated the keeper of records and the seal of the Katipunan. To escape capture, she often crossed provinces on foot. After Bonifacio’s untimely death, she lived in the mountains of Pasig where she met Julio Nakpil. They were later wed in Quiapo Church in Manila.

They lived in the Quiapo house of Dr. Ariston Bautista, a friend of Filipino propagandists in Spain.

Gregoria died on March 15, 1943.


Filipina,Gregoria de Jesus

Melchora Aquino,the Mother of the Revolution

Known as Tandang Sora, Melchora Aquino,the Mother of the Revolution was born in Banilad,Kalookan City, on January 6, 1812 .

Using her small sari-sari store as refuge, she fed,treated and encouraged Bonifacio with her motherly advice and prayers the Katipuneros under the leadership
of Andres Bonifacio .

She was already old when the revolution broke out in 1896. She had very little education but she was literate.

She was aptly called the "Mother of Katipunan." When the Spaniards learned about her activities, they arrested her and exiled her to the Marianas islands.

When the Americans took possession of the Philippines in 1898, Tandang Sora, like other exiles returned to the Philippines, poor and aging. For a time, she lived with her daughter Saturnina.

On March 2, 1919, she died at the age of 107.

source: National Heroes

Maria Josefa Gabriela Silang-First Filipina to lead a revolution

Maria Josefa Gabriela Silang(March 19, 1731- September 29, 1763)

María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang was the first Filipino woman to lead a revolt during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. An active member of the insurgent force of Diego Silang, her husband, she led the group for four months after his death before she was captured and executed.

She was born on March 19, 1731 in Caniogan, Ilocos Sur,with a mestizo (Spanish / Indigenous Ilocano ancestry). She was adopted by a wealthy businessman who later married her at the age of 20, but left after three years. In 1757, she married again, this time to 27-year-old indigenous ilocano rebel leader, Diego Silang. She became one of his closest advisors.

On May 28, 1763, her husband was assassinated by order of royal and church authorities in Manila. After her husband's death, shefled on horseback to the mountains of Abra to establish her headquarters, reassemble her troops, and rally the Tingguian community to fight. They descended on Vigan on September 10, 1763. But the Spanish garrison was ready, amassing Spanish, Tagalog, and Kapampangan soldiers and Ilocano collaborators to ambush her and rout her forces. Many were killed. She
escaped, alongside her uncle Nicolas and seven other men,but later caught on September 29, 1763. They were summarily hanged in Vigan's plaza, with Gabriela being the last to die.


source: National Heroes


Filipina

Cecilia Muñoz-Palma-First Female Supreme Court Associate Justice

Cecilia Muñoz-Palma (November 22, 1913 — January 2, 2006) was the first woman appointed to sit on the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 29, 1973, and served in the Court until she reached the then-mandatory retirement age of 65. She later served as the president of the 1986 Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution.

The daughter of a congressman from Batangas, Muñoz-Palma earned her law degree from the University of the Philippines, and a Master of Laws degree from Yale University. She became the first woman prosecutor of Quezon City in 1947. Seven years later, she became the first female district judge when she was named a trial court judge for Negros Oriental.[1] In the next few years, she was assigned as a judge to Laguna and Rizal until her appointment to the Court of Appeals in 1968, the second woman ever to be appointed to the appellate court. In 1973, she again made history, this time as the first female Supreme Court Associate Justice, preceding by eight years Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

source: wikipedia


Filipina,Cecilia Munoz-Palma,First Female Supreme CourtAssociate Justice

Estefania Aldaba-Lim-first woman to become special ambassador to the United Nations

Estefania Aldaba-Lim, Ph.D. (1917-March 7, 2006) was the first female secretary of any Cabinet of the Philippines, serving as Secretary of Social Services and Development from 1971 to 1977. She obtained her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1942. She was also the first Filipino clinical psychologist.

She played prominent roles as the former assistant secretary general of the United Nations Children's Fund's International Year of the Child. Aldaba-Lim served as President of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. She also founded the Museo Pambata in Manila. In 1948 she set up the Institute of Human Relations at Philippine Women's University . Ms. Aldaba-Lim became was the first woman to become special ambassador to the United Nations, with the rank of assistant secretary general during the International Year of the Child in 1979. She received the UN Peace Medal Award from then Secretary General Kurt Waldheim.

source: wikipedia

Filipina