Gloria Diaz & Isabelle Daza: Don't hate them because they're
beautiful... and funny
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She was the country’s first-ever Miss Universe titleholder in 1969, and has then been a household name and icon.
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She was the country’s first-ever Miss Universe titleholder
in 1969, and has then been a household name and icon. She is one of today’s
most idolized young models, who recently started a career in showbiz. Both
known for their exceptional beauty, enviable bodies, standout style, and witty
comments, here are 10 things you should know about mother and daughter duo
Gloria Diaz and Isabelle Daza.
1. More than bringing
home good grades, what was most important to Gloria as a mother was that her
kids were good, that they traveled, and that they knew how to relate to all
kinds of people.
“She just always gave me advice. Too much advice,” says
Isabelle when asked what Gloria is like as a mother. “Agree, agree,” Gloria
chimes in. Belle shares that her mom was quite the hands-on mom, with her
planning and cooking their meals, checking on what the yaya feeds the kids (too
much sugar and MSG was not allowed, “but they don’t obey right away, they hide
it,” Gloria says) and even reaching her finger into the backside of their
mouths to check if they brushed their teeth well enough. “But when they grew
older and I had a boyfriend, I had a little bit less time for them,” Gloria
shares. “Her boyfriend, Tito Mike (de Jesus), he’s been with us so long.
Fourteen years. He’s like a stepdad,” Belle shares. She was seven when her mom
and her dad Bong Diaz separated, but shares: “My dad and mom are still good
friends now, we all have dinner together with their respective partners.”
Belle says that growing up, she, her older brother Rafael,
and younger sister Ava (all three years apart in age) were never pressured
about grades. But Gloria says “some teachers, a little problem (with grades),
they make it humongous like the earth is going to collapse!”
Giving her kids the opportunity to see the world was
important for Gloria. “They would be absent for as long as one month so we
could travel. I remember I would go to each teacher personally and make sure
they had pasalubong,” she reveals. She figured it was easier for them to catch
up with schoolwork than to miss the chance to learn about different cultures.
When Belle was eight, she lived in her yaya’s hometown of Kabangkalan for a
short time, so that she would learn the meaning of simple living. “It’s
important to me that they don’t think they’re ‘up there.’ I don’t want them to
just live in San Lorenzo or the supermarket,”
Gloria says. To which Belle quips, “As we have our interview now in Polo Club?”
We all laugh. (The interview was held by the polo field, both wearing workout
gear. Gloria had just finished tennis and Belle was off to bike after the
interview.)
2. On where Gloria’s
very vocal nature comes from: “I think you have to live life without thinking
all the time what would people say.”
“My mother was the same way, she didn’t care,” Gloria shares.
“My mother always felt you have to do what you think, say what you think. It’s
just the way we were raised.” Gloria claims she has mellowed a lot since Belle
started a career in showbiz, because she didn’t want whatever comments she may
make to reflect badly on Belle. Gloria says being conscious of her actions
because she is “the” beauty queen is the last thing on her mind. “You always
have to look decent to a certain extent, that’s the only thing that makes a
difference to me, being a beauty queen.”
On being declared persona non grata in Cebu
(after her comment that beauty queens should be allowed to speak in whatever
language they choose): “I’m too small and unimportant to make a big difference,
whether I said it or not. It was really a misunderstanding.” She says maybe
some people might’ve wanted to get fame out of that issue, “and they did, for
15 seconds. Afterwards it was dropped.”
3. Gloria says the
biggest effect on her of her sister Rio’s passing is that you should appreciate
life and “never do something just because other people will feel something,
just do it for yourself and be positive.”
“I realized if you want to buy something, buy it now!”
Gloria quips in a lighthearted moment. “Live your life to the fullest, almost
indifferent to what people will say.” Her sister Rio
passed away seven years ago, after having battled colon cancer for six years.
Belle remembers how both major TV networks were at their home the day her Tita
Rio passed, trying to get an exclusive, but that her mom was just in her room
wanting to be alone. “For me, both prayer and mourning is a private thing,”
Gloria says.
“I remember when she was still trying very hard to be well,
we would sit in her room and she would look off very far, and without saying
anything a tear would drop. And you cannot do anything for her. You have
everything and nothing. You realize how important life is.”
4. Belle was quite
the tomboy growing up; in fact the only time she wore a dress was during prom,
and she only started wearing dresses when she began modeling at 16.
Belle shares that her dad and brother were her “super” idols
and learned a lot of things from them, like sports. (Her biggest love is
football, but she has tried almost every sport, and is now training for
triathlons.) “There was a point where I was dressing like a guy, baggy
everything,” Belle says. Her mom answers: “Ask Belle, I said, ‘Please don’t be
a lesbian, I want to have grandchildren! Don’t get me wrong, I love lesbians,
I’m just saying I want grandchildren!” Belle smiles and shakes her head.
Her love for (feminine) fashion started when she did her
first ad campaign for Human. “My mom came to the shoot, and kulang na lang
champagne. She was clapping at every layout. I was so humiliated!”
5. Both Gloria and
Belle are actresses but neither dreamed of being one. Belle’s original dream
was to be a doctor, and Gloria’s original dream was: “Nothing! Get married and
have lots of children!”
Belle took up Early Childhood Education in De La Salle
University, and it was her mom who helped her choose that course when she
didn’t know exactly what to take up. She went on to take pre-med and finished
two years of human biology. “I just wanted to try to take up medicine. It’s
always been my dream because it seems so noble… and impossible,” she laughs.
“We were dissecting cats,” Belle says. To which Gloria reacts: “Yeah, she would
take it home, in the dining room pa, the cat was there, all open!” Gloria
shares that she remembers Belle saying she wanted to be a doctor so she could
help the poor. Gloria then told her, “Listen. Be an artista and you can hire
people to help the poor.” Belle eventually stopped medicine because she
realized the lifestyle wasn’t for her; she was getting sick often, and her mom
says Belle was getting acidic and “mainitin ang ulo.”
Gloria never thought of being in showbiz. Even her parents
never knew she joined and won the Bb. Pilipinas contest and only realized it
was a big deal when she already had won the Miss Universe crown in Miami and the late
President Marcos was excited about it. Belle shares, “My lola is super
traditional. For her, a woman stays home and produces kids and takes care of
her husband.” Gloria traveled a lot as an Ambassador of Good Will after winning
the title, and was only home a total of four months within the four years of
her duties. She was offered films left and right, though she’d never seen a
Tagalog film in her life (the first Tagalog movie she saw was Patayin sa Sindak
si Barbara and after the film she wondered why she never even saw Barbara get
hit) and back then, she didn’t speak Tagalog at all. She had no idea what an
actor was supposed to do, so much so that she came to the out of town set of
her film Ang Pinakamagandang Babae Sa Balat Ng Lupa with just the clothes she
was wearing, one more outfit, and a sabila plant for her hair. No costume, no
makeup, not even a chair, and she says, “I wasn’t told anything!” Production
then had costumes made for her by a local sewer, and when she tried it on and
showed them, they whispered to her, “Um, Miss Diaz, can you put on a bra?” And
she said, “You didn’t tell me to bring a bra!” Belle says, “And that’s why you
were riding a horse without a bra, people thought that was sadya.”
6. One of the most
important things Gloria has taught Belle: Save your money.
“The most important thing is you save. So you will not be
pressured to do (your work) because you have no money,” Gloria says. She says
she advises Belle to keep working only as long as she enjoys it. “It’s easy to
know when you’re bored: if you’re not looking forward to waking up in the
morning cause you have to go to a shoot, it means you’re bored.”
When Belle started doing commercials, her mom would keep her
earnings to force her to save. “Ninety percent saved, 10 percent for travel.
That was the only thing I was allowed to spend on,” Belle shares. “I had P700
allowance a week when I was 18, until I was 21.” She says because of her mom’s
advice, she was able to buy her first apartment on her own when she was 22.
7. Gloria and Belle
in numbers:
5’7 1/2”: Belle’s height.
5’5”: Gloria’s height.
37: Number of years Gloria has been in the industry.
34-24-34: Vital statistics of Gloria when she won Miss
Universe at the age of 18.
2-45: Number in hours and minutes respectively that Belle
finished her first ever duathlon. (7km run, 30km bike, 3.5k run).
8. Both Gloria and
Belle say their big beauty secret is simply a healthy lifestyle.
Neither will go to bed without removing their makeup and
they regularly use sunblock. “But beauty rituals aren’t only physical, it’s
really everything you do. If you drink a lot, even if you remove your makeup at
night, your skin will still get bad. Or if you eat a lot of fat, even if
mag-sunblock ka, it has an effect. It’s really a lifestyle,” Gloria says.
Belle, 24, and Gloria, 61, are still very active in sports and work out for an
hour or two almost every day. Gloria adds: “My number one beauty secret? Don’t
have utang.” (Belle says her mom got a credit card only two years ago.)
On aging, Gloria shares: “I always say I’m not afraid to
age, I just don’t want to be fat.” Belle laughs and says she also wants to stay
fit as she grows older.
9. Like other mothers
and daughters, Gloria and Belle argue about decisions made. The biggest of
which was when Gloria stormed into the Rogue magazine pictorial of Belle to
scold her for fear that she was going to be labeled “bomba.”
“It’s usually me who reaches out first when it’s a little
thing, but that was a major thing for me,” Gloria reveals. In fact, a few days
after that confrontation, they had to shoot a TV commercial together and they
had to have separate dressing rooms. The director even had to tell them: “Can
you look sincere? Like you miss her and you care?” After days of not speaking
to each other, Gloria says Belle sent her a text message: “I know you’re crazy,
blah blah blah.” Then they reconciled. The conversation on the magazine during
this interview goes:
Gloria: It’s okay, the article is okay. There’s so many
other things she can do.
Belle: I liked it.
Gloria: I’m glad one of us did. I’m not sexy, if you see my
movies.
Belle: Um, I saw Ginoo magazine, okay?
Gloria: I had my back turned, and I had a dress on!
On how sex sells, Gloria says: “Before, it just left things
to the imagination, “Oh my baka walang suot ito.” Now kasi, it’s too trying
hard to be sexy. Because in my mind, of course I’m not always right, being sexy
is just titillating. You don’t have to show the actual skin.”
10. Gloria and
Belle’s answers to memorable beauty queen questions.
Question: If a man from the moon landed in your hometown,
what would you do to entertain him?
Gloria’s actual answer when she won: I think if he has been
on the moon for so long, I think when he comes over he wants a change, I guess.
Belle’s answer: I’d take him for kamayan dinner in my house
and I’d introduce him to all my cute friends.
Q: Would you rather be beautiful but not too smart, or very
smart but not too beautiful?
Gloria: I’ll say beautiful. Better to be beautiful kasi it’s
easy to pretend to be smart but you cannot pretend to be beautiful.
Belle: Probably the same. I guess it’s easier to learn to become
smart. And it’s a fact that life is just a little bit easier when you’re more
on the attractive side, which is honestly kind of vain to say.
Q: What is one big mistake in your life and what did you do
to make it right?
Gloria: I wish I took tennis as a kid because by now I’d be
a champ! Tennis is my passion.
Belle: It was when my Tita Rio was really sick and my mom
asked me if I wanted to go to visit her, and I said no because it was my exams.
You just realize, yes, school is part of your life but this is life.
Q: How would you tell a girl with low self-esteem to feel
better about herself?
Gloria: I don’t think you can tell them anything that’s
going to change their lives. But you can give them the time of day, like when
you talk to them, you’re kind to them, you give them importance. Make them feel
that they are not different from any beauty queen.
Belle: If they’re not happy with who they are maybe they
should make a small change, like lifestyle or whatever it may be. I have
friends with low self-esteem and I help them for example to have a better
lifestyle.
Q: What is the essence of a woman?
Gloria: Lifestyle, living, loving, caring, that’s the
essence of being a woman.
Belle: Being caring, especially a Filipina woman, we’re
naturally maalaga. Being loving. And not allowing people to underestimate you
because you are a woman.
Belle is often asked if she plans to join Bb. Pilipinas, but
actually, Gloria will never allow it. “I will never want her to get into this,
kasi there’s no need to be pressured like that, like how it is now.”
“Pageants are so difficult, the questions they ask, and
you’re, like, in a bikini, on a stage,” Belle adds. Gloria quips: “While
holding your stomach in!”
* * *
You cannot help but smile, watching Gloria and Belle together. Not only
because they are beautiful but because of their wit. When asked what their dream
for each other is, Gloria laughs and says, “To have a one-night stand?” To
which Belle screams, “Eew, I wanna barf!” Their wish for each other is
“happiness and contentment” but since they both admit they are happy and
content, their wish for each other is an apartment in Europe.
“With an extra room for the mama! And a husband that will welcome me,” adds
Gloria. Don’t hate them because they’re beautiful. And funny. And smart. They
may not know what their goals in life are, but they know exactly what they want
out of life and they are getting it.
