Dayang Dayang brings back memories of ’70s fashion scene
Dayang Dayang was the first exotic Filipina model that stood out on the Philippine fashion ramp in 1971 with her tall, lithe frame and dark exotic looks.
At that time, all the models were either beautiful top movie stars (such as Gloria Romero, Barbara Perez, Amalia Fuentes and Susan Roces) or the mestiza and similar-looking colegialas that grande dame Conchita Sunico and designers handpicked to represent their haute couture fashion shows here and abroad. The whiter the complexion, with Spanish or patrician features, the better. 
Ruby Umali was somewhat of a nerd in the University of the Philippines taking up chemistry and had no inkling of doing anything in fashion or design. On a lark, she was brought by a classmate to then hip and au courant designer Dante Ramirez. He seemed unimpressed with her looks as well as her height and all he asked was if she could walk gracefully — which she was unable to do the first time around since she had never thought of being a model despite her towering height of 5’9’, then considered super tall for a Filipina. He also renamed her Dayang Dayang to further add to her exoticness.
After briefly coaching her, Dante’s next instruction was to just copy the way Ping Valencia walked and projected on the fashion ramp. Every model wanted to move like Ping and every designer wanted her to represent them on the fashion ramp or onstage for fundraising shows.
It did not take long for Dayang to stand out among us and she soon caught the eye of British photographer David Charles who was almost 20 years her senior. He was bringing her to the United Kingdon and that certainly did not sit well with Tita Conching as she looked after us Karilagan models like her very own and was wary of this older man. She would make sure we were always properly chaperoned and looked after when we had modeling stints here and abroad to represent the Philippines. If she felt any of our admirers were not up to her liking, she would say so in no uncertain terms.
Dayang and David moved to the United Kingdom and eventually we all went our separate ways by getting real jobs that would jump-start our careers and pay us a salary (as modeling was considered more of a hobby then since we were unpaid), settled down with our respective families and even moved to different continents. Lucky were those who were able to keep in touch with each other from time to time.
Fast-forward to 2013 and London-based Dayang was coming to Manila for a family reunion with her Umali siblings. Taking a break from her job managing real-estate properties and briefly leaving behind her husband and two grown children Samantha and Dave, we made sure we would reunite for old time’s sake. This group had to comprise only 12 ladies since that was all my dinner table could comfortably accommodate and the reunion included beauty queens Margie Moran (Miss Universe 1973 and current president of Ballet Philippines), Elsa Payumo (Miss Caltex 1963 and active Buklod ng Pagibig member) as well as Ping Valencia, Emily Relucio Lopez, Jenny Peña, Tisha Dominguez Abundo, Marilyn Recio Ramos, Techie Ysmael Bilbao, Via Marquez-Hoffmann, Monina Arnaldo Lacson and myself.
Gone too soon: Charming Mari Borao was a good friend to many. He will be sorely missed. That evening, bonding time for 12 women took more than five hours of reminiscing and laughter since we had so many stories to share. It was with a heavy heart that we broke up but promised to make sure we would be meeting again to continue our stroll down memory lane together.
Adieu, Mari Borao
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to one of the nicest gentlemen to come to Manila yearly, Mario Borao — everyone’s favorite dance partner and charming dinner guest. A former Manila resident who migrated to Madrid about four decades ago, he passed away in his sleep while visiting a friend’s island retreat. Several days before this, we were happily dancing away in a Valentine’s celebration and while chatting about his ailing cousin, Mari mentioned that he would want to go quickly and quietly without suffering or fanfare. He will be sorely missed by his numerous friends. Vaya con Dios, Mari.
