What Gloria Diaz taught daughter Isabelle Daza about handling money

MANILA, Philippines — What does Gloria Diaz think of families and personalities feuding in public?

The former Miss Universe was particularly asked about her views on conflicts being exposed or brought to social media.

“That’s terrible. It’s not my thing but I’m not gonna judge them. They might have a reason, ewan ko,” she said during an interview after the Cinemalaya Bente premiere of her Joel Lamangan-directed film “Lola Magdalena.”

“Wala pa naman kami sa ganun,” she added, referring to her relationship with her children. “I have discussions with them about how to deal with some projects and all. And kunwari they don’t listen but at the end of the day, they listen.”

“No, we don’t fight. I’m always right,” she quipped.

Gloria, nevertheless, admitted that she and her daughter, Isabelle, didn’t always see eye to eye when it came to the latter’s decisions in her showbiz career.

“Marami,” she said, pertaining to the times they had disagreements.

“Many ways (to deal with it) kasi natatakot rin ako sa kanya (laughs),” she continued.

“She’s very strong, strong-willed. Before when she was doing photographic stuff, there were things that I didn’t want her to do. So when I say no, magagalit. Sometimes, we discuss things. But (it’s) easier now because pwede i-text, you know. She used to call me controlling but hindi na ngayon,” she further shared.

Despite differing stances on certain matters, according to her, it never reached the point where they would end up fighting. “Hindi naman. ‘Wag naman yung away. Actually, more than anything kasi a child doesn’t want to be controlled, right? But a mother cannot help it. My daughter is already 36. I have another (Ava) who is 34. Lahat yun pinapakialaman ko,” she said.

“Everything, pero slowly, pa-konti konti. Like yung anak niya. During my time, ‘pag ayaw kumain ng bata, pilitin mo. But my children are not like that. If the children don’t want to eat, they will ask, ‘Ano gusto mo kainin?’ O, sige, banana lang, whatever. Then I’ll say, you have to force them. (They will say), ‘Mom, it’s not like that anymore, you have to talk to them.’ And talagang, they never punish.”

Gloria on her relationship with her children, including actress Isabelle Daza: ‘No, we don’t fight. I’m always right.’

Photo from Isabelle Daza's Instagram

Meanwhile, on the topic of finances, Gloria had her fair share of financial lessons from her younger years.

“We never had money. I mean, on hand. When we were young, we signed for everything because my parents were well-off so they didn’t know that we had to have money. Laging nakikihingi nalang ako sa classmates ko. We could have everything but we only make pirma,” she said.

“I really didn’t know how to handle money. In fact when I won (Miss Universe in 1969), my parents didn’t know that there was money involved. They had no idea in all that. Okay lang sa kanila, you know, somebody took care of us.

“I just knew better that you had to have money. I should have saved more, in fact. Only when I was in showbiz nalang that I saved more. So when I was young and I won and I was doing so many ads and stuff, I never saved everything, anything.”

When Isabelle decided to also pursue acting, Gloria said she handled her daughter’s earnings at first. “Belle was already finished with college (when she entered showbiz). I didn’t even allow her to come out on TV. At that time, kontrolado ko pa siya, including her money. Nuon. Until she was a little bit mature, I handed her all her money. She was so happy. She didn’t even realize she earned that much.”

Gloria, who told The STAR that it’s true that when her daughters were growing up, they couldn’t turn on the aircon unless there were three of them using the room, said that she has always stressed to her kids the importance of saving rather than spending on luxuries.

“I wanted her to invest properly, not in name brands, clothes or shoes. And (when) she was young, even until now, they would always sponsor her and stuff, but the thing is now, the new generation, everything is very… even how expensive your dress is, tomorrow you give it away. It’s different views, and different ways. But of course, if you buy a condo or a car you really need, not a fancy car but a good utility car, OK, ganun ako eh.

“Now, I want her to buy jewelry and all pero nasanay na sila na wala eh. I’ve always taught her that it’s not how much you earn, it’s how much you save. Whenever I just start saying it, she goes, I know it mom. Whenever they ask her, ‘Does your mom give you advice?’ She always says too much,” she mused.

Gloria observed that Isabelle has become more financially responsible as she became a mother of three.

“Now she’s quite mature because she has three children. Bago bumili ka ng sapatos, kailangan bilhan mo sila una, the kids keep growing so fast. Marunong na siya ngayon,” the proud mom said.