Rio Díaz-Cojuangco (; born Rosario Aspillera Díaz; 14 August 1959 – 4 October 2004), was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

, actress and politician. The sister of former

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Gloria Díaz Gloria Maria Aspillera Diaz (; born 10 March 1951) is a Filipino actress of film and television, model and beauty queen who rose to fame after being crowned Miss Universe 1969, becoming the first Filipino to hold the Miss Universe title. Early ...

, she was diagnosed with stage four

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

and died in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2004. She was an aunt of

Georgina Wilson Georgina Ashley Diaz Wilson-Burnand (born 12 February 1986) is a Filipino-British model, actress, host and VJ. In 2015, Wilson hosted the third season of the reality show ''Asia's Next Top Model''. Early life Georgina Ashley Diaz Wilson was ...

, through another sister Aurora who is Wilson's mother.

Biography

Born in Manila, Díaz was the youngest of twelve children born to Jaime Díaz and Teresa Aspillera. A ramp and commercial model, she was crowned

Mutya ng Pilipinas Mutya ng Pilipinas (MNP), in 2019 known as Mutya Pilipinas, is one of the two oldest annual national beauty pageants in the Philippines (est. 1968). The other being the Binibining Pilipinas Pageant (est. 1964). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, t ...

in 1977 and won Fourth Runner-up in the

Miss Asia Pageant ATV Miss Asia Pageant () is an annual Hong Kong-based beauty pageant organized and broadcast by Asia Television (ATV). Originating in 1985 as a local Hong Kong pageant, the contest went on hiatus from the 2000 through 2003, and was re-branded as an ...

that same year. Díaz began a relationship with musician

Hajji Alejandro Angelito Toledo "Hajji" Alejandro (born December 26, 1954) is a Filipino singer and actor Alaminos, Pangasinan, who was a major pop star in the 1970s and 1980s. Just like another OPM legend Basil Valdez, he came from the group Circus Band. He ...

, and together they

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where they operated a small restaurant along

Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts at Santa Monica Boulevard, at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It ends at Lucile Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Beve ...

. They had a son. Ali Alejandro After separating from Alejandro, Díaz returned to the Philippines and resumed her career in entertainment. She co-hosted ''

Eat Bulaga ''Eat Bulaga!'' (), formerly ''Eat... Bulaga!'', is a noontime Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. Produced by TAPE Inc., it is the longest running variety show in the Philippines with over 13,000 episodes. Originally ...

'' in 1991 and stayed for a couple of years before meeting Charlie Cojuangco on a

blind date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

in 1993 and marrying him the following year. For the greater part of the 1990s, Díaz worked for television and starred in several films. They had 2 children, Jaime Diaz Cojuangco and Claudia Diaz Cojuangco.

Politics

Diaz, similar to her first husband Hajji Alejandro, was a supporter of former President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

, even after his deposition in the

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

. She was elected

vice-mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected depu ...

Pontevedra, Negros Occidental Pontevedra, officially the Municipality of Pontevedra, is a 3rd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 54,5 ...

in the 1998 elections, while her husband won a seat in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. Díaz later became president of the vice-mayors' league of

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...

Illness and death

During a routine checkup in December 1998, her American doctors informed her of a small growth in her left abdomen. After a six-hour surgery, they found a

malignant tumour Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

in its fourth stage, and Díaz was given three months to live. She underwent another operation, and received

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

for three months. In 1999,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

Dr George Fisher, declared she had been cured. When the cancer cells returned in May 2000, Rio travelled back to Stanford for an eight-hour surgical procedure and another round of chemotherapy sessions. Díaz stopped the sessions in 2002, citing her body's inability to cope further, but her physicians later that year said she had no recourse but to continue treatment. Six years after the original diagnosis, Díaz died on 4 October 2004 at

Seton Medical Center Seton Medical Center (originally Mary's Help Hospital) is a 357-bed hospital owned by AHMC Healthcare. Founded in San Francisco, the current facility is located in Daly City, California, United States.

Daly City Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...

, at the age of 45.

Filmography

Film

*''Sísingilín Ko ng Dugo'' (1990) *''Sam & Miguel (Your Basura, No Problema)'' (1992) as Mila *''Tunay Na Magkaibigan, Walang Iwanan...Peksman'' (1994)

Television

*''

Eat Bulaga! ''Eat Bulaga!'' (), formerly ''Eat... Bulaga!'', is a noontime Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. Produced by TAPE Inc., it is the longest running variety show in the Philippines with over 13,000 episodes. Originally ...

'' (1992-1996) *''Sarap TV'' (1998-1999) *''

Maalaala Mo Kaya ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' (; formerly written as ''Maala-ala Mo Kaya...''; abbreviated as ''MMK''), also known as ''Memories'', is a Philippines, Philippine television drama anthology show broadcast by Kapamilya Channel under ABS-CBN Entertainment. ...

'', "Pictures": The Rio Díaz-Cojuangco Story - as herself (in a part of her story; mostly played by

Eula Valdez Maria Julia Amorsolo Valdes (; born December 11, 1968), professionally known as Eula Valdes, is a Filipino actress, best known for her role as Amor Powers in the original version of ''Pangako Sa 'Yo'' (2000) and as Janice in the ''Bagets'' film ...

; 2003)

References

External links

Rio is Safely Home
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Rio 1959 births 2004 deaths Actresses from Manila Cojuangco family Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from colorectal cancer Filipino film actresses Filipino Roman Catholics Filipino television actresses Filipino television personalities Ilocano people Mutya ng Pilipinas winners Nationalist People's Coalition politicians People from Ilocos Norte Politicians from Negros Occidental Beauty queen-politicians