Trivia

Youngest sister of Gloria Diaz.

Rio was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in December 1998. She was given three months to live then, but had lived for six more years. She died On October 4, 2004 in Seton Hospital in Daly City, California at the age of 45.

Like her elder sister Gloria (Miss Universe 1969), Rio is also a beauty queen. Rio herself was crowned Mutya ng Pilipinas in 1977 and won fourth runner-up in the Miss Asia pageant that same year.

She was elected vice mayor of Pontevedra, Negros Occidental in the May 1998 elections, as Charlie first won a seat in Philippine Congress. She became president of the vice mayors' league in Negros Occidental.

Youngest of 12 children born to Jaime Diaz and Teresa Aspillera.

A ramp and commercial model before becoming a beauty queen.

Sisters: Gloria Diaz, Aurora, Georgie and Ruby.

Had son named Ali with Hajji Alejandro'.

Children (with Charlie Conjuangco): Jaime and Claudia.

When she and singer Hajji Alejandro became a couple in 80's, they left for Los Angeles, California where they operated a small restaurant along Melrose Ave.

Met husband Charlie Cojuangco on a blind date in 1993 and got married the following year.

During a routine checkup in December 1998, her doctors in the United States informed her of a small growth in her left abdomen. After a six-hour surgery, they told her they had found a malignant tumor in its fourth stage. She underwent another surgery, and then chemotherapy for three months. In 1999 her oncologist, Dr. George Fisherat Stanford, declared she had been cured. When the cancer cells made a comeback in May 2000, Rio returned to Stanford for another eight-hour surgery, and another round of chemotherapy sessions. In 2002, she stopped the sessions because her body could no longer take it. But late that year, Rio's doctors said she had no recourse but to do it again.

When she and singer Hajji Alejandro became a couple in the 80s, they left for Los Angeles, California where they operated a small restaurant along Melrose Ave.