Marilou Diaz-Abaya dies of cancer

MANILA, Philippines - Multi-awarded director Marilou Diaz-Abaya lost her battle with cancer at 7 o’clock last night at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Global City, Taguig City. She was 57.

“She was sedated when I visited her last Saturday,” said Cesar Montano, Marilou’s signature actor who starred in three of her award-winning films, ‘Jose Rizal’, ‘Muro-Ami’ and ‘Bagong Umaga’.

Her hair was gone due to the chemotherapy sessions that she had been undergoing after her cancer, which started in her breast a few years ago, metastasized in her liver.

“I tried to cheer her up and told her that she looked like my bald character in Muro-Ami,” added Cesar, “and she laughed, although weakly. Before I left, she told me, ‘I love you!’ I hid my tears. I didn’t want her to see me cry.”

Marilou’s last film, which she also produced, was ‘Ikaw Ang Aking Pag-Ibig’ which is about the miraculous Our Lady of Peñafrancia, shot in Naga City where the Lady’s shrine is.

She is survived by her husband Manolo Abaya, a cinematographer, and sons David (a musician) and Marc (an actor and former lead singer of the band Sandwich).

Diaz-Abaya started to make her mark in the 1980s with a trilogy of films – ‘Brutal’, ‘Karnal’ and ‘Moral’ – that tackled feminist issues amid a patriarchal system. A close friend of director Laurice Guillen, she was also a creative consultant to the yearly Cinemalaya independent film festival.

Place of the wake was not yet known as of press time. Interment date will be announced later.