Happy Birthday Gloria!!!
I spent a lazy afternoon hanging out with birthday girl Gloria Diaz (Miss Universe 1969) and a bevy of beauty queens at the residence of Nini Licaros (Bb. Pilipinas International 1968).
Beauty Queens in attendance included Evelyn Camus (Bb. Pilipinas International 1971), Peachy Sacasas (Bb. Pilipinas International 1981), Dang Cecilio (Bb. Pilipinas Universe 1979), Chiqui Brosas (4th Runner-up Miss Universe 1975), Annette Liwanag (4th Runner-up Miss Maja International 1975), Sharon Hughes (Bb. Pilipinas Young 1982), Maricar Mendoza (Bb. Pilipinas Universe 1981), Cita Avecilla (2nd Runner-up Miss Young International 1970) and Simonette delos Reyes (Bb. Pilipinas Universe 1970). WHEW!
Who says we're on a DIET??!!!! L-R Nini Licaros, Gloria Diaz, Simonette delos Reyes (who made the Apple pie) and Dang Cecilio
I have always been a Gloria Diaz fan and remember how proud my Mom was when Gloria won Miss Universe! I was very young at the time but I knew all about her victory because Mom always talked about how beautiful and intelligent Gloria Diaz was. And she still is!
I can’t help but mention that the two things that interest me the most – space exploration and beauty pageants made a big impact on my life in the year 1969 when Gloria won Miss Universe and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I was just a toddler at the time but I have clear memories of watching the black and white TV broadcasts of both events when we were temporarily living in Los Angeles with my Aunt Patty. Today, I still dream of seeing man walk on moon one more time and another Filipina wearing the Miss Universe crown…
…but before I start off on one of my daydreams, I just want to wish Gloria Diaz another year full of beauty, love, fun and laughter! Happy Birthday!!!
Top L-R: Simonette delos Reyes, Dang Cecilio, Chiqui Brosas, Sharon Hughes, Joyce Ann Burton (c'est moi), Cita Avecilla, Peachy Sacasas. Bottom L-R: Maricar Mendoza, Nini Licaros, Gloria Diaz, Evelyn Camus and Annette Liwanag
Ganda pa rin ni Gloria Diaz kahit tumanda na! Walang kupas! Sana magkaroon ulit ang Pinas na ala Gloria Diaz ang ganda at singtalino nya sa pagsagot ng mga tanong.
Agree ako diyan!
This is like a reunion of beauty queens in Philippines. All of them are still beautiful. Gloria Diaz is still beautiful. She has a good figure until now as well as Dang Cecilio (my favorite in elementary days), Joyce Ann Burton (my favorite in high school days).
I wish that there will be reunions later for all the past beauty queens. Keep up the good work, Joyce! All the people in Philippines will make happy for that.
Almost all the beauty queens there have their street names in Las Piñas City. Lalaine Bennett and Gloria Diaz have the longest street there.
Mabuhay to all the beauty queens in Philippines. Philippines has 2 Miss Universe, 4 Miss International, and 1 Miss Earth. I wish that Philippines will win the Miss World in this year at least.
Armando
thanks for your comment… as I type this response, I am on my way to Tagaytay for another beauty queen/model reunion this time with Bong Dimayacyac, a former Mutya winner, model and actress! Will make a short report on that with a few photos, if the girls are okay with it! BTW, I never knew that Las Pinas had streets named after beauty queens! BUt I do know that many Filipinas are named after beauty queens and I have met two such ladies named after me because they were born the year I won, such an honor for me, really…
Hi Joyce how are you? Yeah, I am right that there’s a place in Las Piñas City which is BF Resort Village where the streets there are named from our beauty queens from 1950′s to 1980′s. I have my aunt and cousins who are living there. They are residing at Melanie Marquez Street.
At the front of Perpetual Help College of Rizal along Alabang-Zapote Road corner Aria Street, the main gate of BF Resort Village is located. As you enter the BF Resort Village, Aria Street becomes Lalaine Bennett Street (Miss Philippines 1963) which is the longest street there. Lalaine is the first Filipina who placed in the runner-up position in Miss Universe Pageant. Next to the longest street is Gloria Diaz Street. Gloria Diaz of course is our Miss Universe in 1969. There are many streets there like Aurora Pijuan, Evelyn Camus, Guada Sanchez, and so on. I remember now the names of our beauty queens because of that subdivision in Las Piñas City. I wish that you will visit to that area and take the pictures of the streets there. Here’s the map of BF Resort Village:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=map+of+las+pi%C3%B1as+city&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl
When I saw the birthday lunch pictures with Gloria Diaz, I was laughing (joke only) on that time because most of our beauty queens in the party are all named in Las Piñas City. Now, I saw their faces and all of them are still beautiful and charming.
Please make sure you have a grand reunion on stage for the 50th anniversary of Binibining Pilipinas! In fact, there MUST be a pre-pageant TV special only for Binibini at 50, tracing BPCI’s charity works, where you all are now, contributions to the country’s social growth, memorials to those who passed, and the enduring legacy of the beautiful Filipina.
I’m furiously imagining all of you together on stage, and I will probably be hyperventilating beholding the lovely icons of my childhood, high school, and college days. (And college days includes you, Joyce, and your two titles!) Cheers!
Oh that would be a dream indeed! Lets hope though that BB. Pilipinas keeps the franchise for Miss U because I heard somewhere that Channel 2 is planning to bid for it when the franchise expires. Not sure when but I thought someone said 2013… But even if Channel 2 gets the Miss U, as long as they honor and understand the history of Miss U then okay lang….
Joyce, did you say that there’s a rumor about Channel 2 taking over the franchise? Wow, this will ROCK the entire beauty pageant fandom! On one hand, I support this because I’m a desperate fanatic of change, but on the other hand, I’m not sure if Channel 2 has the bandwidth and the depth to understand the Miss Universe pageant as a business (not to mention its history and legacy, as you said).
If Channel 2 wins, we will start a banner campaign that says “Joyce Ann Burton as national MU head!”
Abangan nating lahat! Abangan talaga! This will be the most explosive event in 2013.
It’s just a RUMOUR ha. I don’t want to be spreading what it not true. What I mentioned about Channel 2 is not because I have inside information but because I heard it from another pageant follower. So consider the source before believing it. Also, we can wait and see what happens…
Yup, it’s best to wait it out! Till then, we’ll never run out of exciting things to talk about . . .
Hi Joyce!
I wonder why there’s little information about Ms. Gloria Diaz. She doesn’t even have her own webpage–or maybe she wants to keep a low profile. I’m a big fan of her. There’s something about Ms. Gloria that’s uniquely hers.
I love reading a beauty queen’s blog—thanks for sharing with us a portion of your life. =)
Iris