Gloria Diaz counts on Ariella to bring home Miss U crown

Gloria Diaz has high hopes that this year’s Miss Philippines Ariella Arida will become the next Miss Universe titleholder come Nov. 9 in Moscow, Russia.

The first Filipina to win the Miss Universe crown in 1969 (with the second win from Margie Moran in 1973), Gloria said Ariella is her “manok.”

“Siya ang choice ko noong Binibining Pilipinas. I was her judge when she won (as Binibining Pilipinas-Universe). I chose her and hopefully, she will do well and of course, there’s a lot of pressure on her now because of the winning of the other one (Miss World 2013 Megan Young) but she’s a different girl and this is a different contest… if she does well, it will really be something – earth-shaking – so I’m happy for her,” Diaz told Bulletin Entertainment in an interview after the launch of Neurogen E’s “Life in Your Hands” Advocacy Campaign held Wednesday in Makati City.

As message to the aspiring third Filipina Miss Universe, Diaz said: “Do your best, hope for the best. It’s not the end whether you win it or you don’t. I’m wishing you the best. We’re counting on you and everything you do, you must remember, you are representing the Philippines.”

‘Me First’

As an advocate for “Life in Your Hands,” Diaz is one proof that aging isn’t an excuse to compromise anybody from doing things they are passionate about. At 62, Diaz maintains an active lifestyle, keeping fit with tennis as one of her sports.

During the campaign’s launch, Diaz talked about how mature Filipino women can fight the effects of nerve aging through initiatives that enable them to do more and be more. The beauty queen-turned-actress shared some of her hobbies like flower arranging and also gave tips on how to stay fit and active.

“Feeling good for me means sleeping well and maintaining a positive outlook in life. I think, more than anything, it’s keeping your finances down and not overspending (makes you feel positive). I don’t care what vitamins do you take (but) if you overspend and have a credit card that you cannot pay, that won’t help. Also, having a good boyfriend, lover or husband helps,” Diaz said.

With regards to being a mother, especially to her celebrity daughter Isabelle Daza, Diaz said that she follows what her parents taught her when she was a teenager – explore and be independent. “I never stressed out with ‘Will she be okay?’ or what. Isabelle will figure it out coz she’s like me. Parang over, she gets involved with little things. So I figured, ‘let her be stressed out.’ You let go and just take care of the necessary things.”

As advise to mothers her age, Diaz said, “You have to ‘me first.’”

She explained, “When I turned 62 last April, I said okay, from now on, me first. Because before it was always them (my children), so I made sure I have these, my vitamins, the newest tennis racket, everything. Kasi when you were young, and your children are young, inuuna mo sila eh. But no, when you reach a certain age, you have to ‘me first.’”

Gloria Diaz stays active and maintains a positive outlook in life at 62 (Photo by Jecelyn V. Macahindog)

Isabelle’s No. 1 Fan

Isabelle may not have followed in Diaz’s footsteps as a beauty queen but the latter didn’t mind as she puts it “One crown is enough for the family.”

According to Diaz, she didn’t dream for Isabelle to be like her. “I’m more concerned with – if anything – it’s one chance, not in a million, but 10 million, na pwede siyang manalong Miss Universe. Kung hindi siya manalo, although I think she’s definitely more beautiful than me, but being a beauty queen is not necessarily being beautiful. Ninety-nine percent is being lucky. Kung hindi siya kasing swerte ko or iba naman kasi ang landas niya, she can be a First Lady or whatever, I think it will be sad. I will be the saddest.”

She added that Isabelle is young and that she doesn’t want for her to take the risk because “she can be good at other things. Isabelle is very good with children, and she really wants to be able to put up a school and especially, she graduated early education which I did not. She has a lot of other things going for her. Being a beauty queen for her is not ’yung pinaka-goal niya sa buhay. Being an actress, I only encourage her to do acting and she seems to be enjoying it.”

Being her daughter’s number one fan, Diaz shared that she has been doing photo albums of Isabelle’s projects in showbiz. “I’m very happy for her. She says nga I’m her biggest fan. And true! I am!”

Gloria Diaz counts on Ariella to bring home Miss U crown

Source: Mb.com.ph (October 31, 2013 at 12:50PM)

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