Maria Isabel Pagunsan Lopez—Melrod[2] (born 14 September 1958) is a Filipino actress and beauty pageant titleholder. Lopez won the Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1982 and represented the Philippines in the 31st Miss Universe Pageant in Lima, Peru.

Maria Isabel Lopez
Lopez in July 2017
Born (1958-08-19) August 19, 1958 (age 66)
EducationUniversity of the Philippines
Occupations
  • Beauty pageant titleholder
  • actress
  • model
  • mosaic artist
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[1]
Spouses
Hiroshi Yokohama
(m. 1990; ann. 2006)
Jonathan Melrod
(m. 2019)
ChildrenMara Isabella Yokohama
Kenyo Yokohama
Beauty pageant titleholder
TitleBinibining Pilipinas Universe 1982
Years active1982–present
Hair colorBlack
Eye colorBrown
Major
competition(s)
Binibining Pilipinas 1982
(Winner – Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1982)
Miss Universe 1982
(Unplaced)

She became known as the first beauty queen and actress appearing in Sex in film. Lopez was married to Hiroshi Yokohama, and then later married Jonathan Melrod in the United States. She is a mosaic artist and has appeared in various roles in Philippine cinema and television.

Pageantry

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Lopez was born in Cagayan de Oro to Benjamin Lopez and Crescencia Pagunsan. She was baptized at the Saint Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral. She had three immediate siblings and was later raised in Sampaloc, Manila by a single mother due to her father having a mistress and extramarital children.

Before joining beauty pageants, she worked as a fashion designer at The SM Store and Rustan's department store. She also modeled for various fashion salons, including that of LGBT fashion designer, Mr. Rodolfo Fuentes (1950–2011), who encouraged her to join Binibining Pilipinas. In 1982 (aged 24), she joined the pageant as candidate number #15 and won the Binibining Pilipinas Universe title.

She was almost dethroned of her title because of the eventual discovery her previous work as a lingerie sexy model in a Girard Peter fashion show by the clothes designer Mr. Gerardo Reyes, which accordingly violated an immorality clause set by pageant director Stella Araneta. Lopez maintains that she was pressured to resign but she refused to do so, citing the assistance of her personal manager and Viva Films to counteract dethronement.[citation needed]

During her national competition, Lopez gained notoriety when she was asked (mistakenly) about virginity by Philippine judge and actress Margarita “Rita” Gomez (1935–1990). In actuality, the question was given for Janet Sales of Manila and was falsely spread in association to Lopez. During her national competition, she was asked by American drummer Alphonse Mouzon regarding the independence of women. At her coronation night, her name was initially mispronounced as Maricar Isabel Lopez, later corrected.

Film work

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Lopez became controversial when she appeared in highly sexualized roles in movies, which was not usually expected of a beauty queen titleholder. Her first movie Sana, Bukas Pa ang Kahapon (English: "Hoping Yesterday is still Tomorrow") in 1983, starred Hilda Koronel, Lorna Tolentino, Dindo Fernando, and Jay Ilagan, and was directed by Romy Suzara. She was in the original cast of Working Girls (1984), a comedy film directed by National Artist Ishmael Bernal, where she starred as a young office worker who entered sex work at night to gain more income. In 1988, Lopez was hired as a commercial sexy model for White Castle Whiskey.

During the height of her popularity, Lopez appeared in more sexual and romantic movies, including the following:

  • Silip: Daughters of Eve — by Elwood Perez (1985)
  • Isla (English: "Island") — by Celso Ad Castillo (1985)
  • Hubo sa Dilim — (English: “Naked in the Dark”) (1985)
  • Mga Nakaw Na Sandali — (English: “Stolen Moments”) (1986)
  • Dingding Lang ang Pagitan — (English: “Only Thin Walls in Between”) (1986)

She won the Golden Screen Award Best Supporting Actress Award for Kinatay (English: “Butchered”) (2009). Lopez walked the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival in France for Brilliante Mendoza's award-winning film, Kinatay (2009). Lopez again walked the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival in France for Brilliante Mendoza's award-winning film, Ma'Rosa (2016).

Lopez was the line producer for Tulak (2009), and HIV: Si Heidi, Si Ivy at Si V (2010). She was cast again in the 2010 remake of Working Girls, produced by GMA Films under the helm of Jose Javier Reyes. Lopez was one of the castaways in GMA Network's Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown (2011–2012), in tandem with her daughter, Mara Lopez, who was also an actress. She played the mother of Sid Lucero in GMA-7's prime time series, Legacy (2012).

List of controversies

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In 2009, Lopez became the center of controversy when she was not given a complimentary ticket for the Binibining Pilipinas 2009 pageant, an oversight she strongly resented in public. During this year, the 18th Miss Universe gave her a pageant entrance ticket though she was not designated to sit in the reservation box allotted to former beauty titleholders.

In 2010, Lopez became involved in a conflict with various Philippine journalists, including Ricky Lo, who implied in tabloid newspapers that Lopez strongly desired the passing of Stella Araneta. Lopez vehemently denied the allegation, but maintained the accusation that Araneta is an elitist who refuses to address people of impoverished backgrounds due to her grandiose ego.[3] Lopez maintains that Araneta has never forgiven her for making sexualized films after her reign as Miss Philippines 1982.[4]

In 2016, Lopez gained notoriety for a green pageant gown she wore in the 2015 Cannes Film Festival because she compared her evening gown to the one used by the 64th Miss Universe.

In January 2017, Lopez revealed on the morning show Unang Hirit the strong discrimination against dark-skinned contestants during her time as a beauty queen. She noted that during the Miss Universe 1982 visit at the Presidential Palace in Peru, the former first lady Pilar Nores de García was dismissive of the dark-skinned contestants, namely Miss Papua New Guinea and Turks and Caicos.

In November 2017, Lopez was penalized for removing traffic cones and illegally driving on the lane reserved for the delegates of the 31st ASEAN Summit that was hosted in the Philippines. She posted her actions on Facebook, which prompted the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to recommend to the Land Transportation Office to suspend or cancel her driver's license.[5][6][7] Lopez later claimed that seeing other vehicles using the ASEAN lane prompted her to drive on it as well.[8] The office later revoked her license and barred her from reapplying and reacquiring her license for the next two years.[9] She was also fined ₱8,000 (US$160) for ignoring traffic signs, reckless driving, and violating the Anti-Distracted Driving Act.[10] Lopez accepted the charges and issued a public apology.

Personal life

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Lopez first married Hiroshi Yokohama, a former DHL executive in 1990. The couple wed and lived in Edogawa, Tokyo, Japan then later moved to the Philippines. They separated in 2006 due to claims of abuse and infidelity which later resulted to a marital annulment formalized in 2010. They have two children, Mara Lopez, an actress, and Kenyo Yokohama, a civil engineering graduate of De La Salle University. On 9 June 2019, Lopez married a Jewish—American former human rights lawyer, Jonathan Melrod and now residing in Sebastopol, California.

Lopez studied at the Holy Trinity Catholic school in Sampaloc, Manila and later studied Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She is a member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. She served as Secretary of the Committee on Visual Arts in 2011–2013. Lopez also completed art classes in the Chicago Mosaic School and the Institute of Mosaic Art in Berkeley, California. In 2015, she toured UNESCO Italian mosaics in Ravenna, Italy as part of her interest in mosaics.

Selected filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Film Company
2019 Lola Igna Nida
2016 Siphayo Fely
Barcelona: A Love Untold Belinda Alfaro
Pamilya Ordinaryo
Ma' Rosa Tilde
Just the 3 of Us Lulu Manalo
2015 The Comeback
2014 Tres "Tata Selo" segment
Maria Leonora Teresa
2013 Ang Misis ni Meyor
The Search for Weng Weng
Angustia
2012 Mariposa: Sa Hawla ng Gabi
Ang Misis ni Meyor
Corazon: Ang Unang Aswang
Captive
2011 Ritwal: The Faithfools
Sirip
Cuchera
2010 HIV: Si Heidi, si IVY at si V
Ika-Sampu
Ang Babae sa Sementeryo
Ways of the Sea
Halaw
Working Girls
Pilantik
2009 Fidel Minda
Kinatay Madonna/Gina
Hilot
Tulak
2008 Ay Ayeng
2002 Super B Nanay Mameng
1999 Sindak Balikbayan
1989 Sa Kuko Ng Agila Shirley JE Productions
Rich Films
V Rich Films
1988 Red Roses for a Call Girl BAS Films
Lisa Film
1987 When Good Girls Go Wrong LCS Productions, Inc.
JRS Productions
1986 Bakit Naglaho ang Magdamag Greed Films
Kapirasong Dangal Urban Films
Dingding ang Pagitan Ian Film Productions
Mga Nakaw na Sandali First Productions
Huwag Pamarisan: Kulasisi Emperor Films
Unang Gabi
Hayok
Silip Tonya Viking Films
1985 Hubo sa Dilim FLT Film Productions
Heartache City Joji Essex Films
Hello Lover, Goodbye Friend Falcon Films
Escort Girls Tala Films, Inc.
1984 Isla Isla Viva Films
Working Girls
Batuigas II: Pasukuin si Waway Vanguard Films, Inc.
1983 Dugong Buhay Viva Films
Sana, Bukas Pa ang Kahapon Candy

Television

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Year Title Role Network
2022 Love in 40 Days Roberta "Berta" Ignacio Kapamilya Channel / A2Z / TV5
2019 Sino ang May Sala?: Mea Culpa Maribel Baniaga ABS-CBN
2018 Ngayon at Kailanman Lucia Simbajon
Bagani Doray
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Barya Victoria
2017 Haplos Corazon 'Cora' Maglalim GMA Network
Imbestigador: Nagbigti o Binigti Selya
2016 Doble Kara Rona Mallari ABS-CBN
FPJ's Ang Probinsyano Clarissa Subito
Wansapanataym: Candy's Crush Venus Angara
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Pole Samantha
2015 Pangako sa 'Yo Isabel Miranda
Bridges of Love Veronica
Karelasyon Belinda GMA Network
Imbestigador: Hinalay sa loob ng bahay (Gupit Panty) Janet Buenavista
2014 Ang Lihim ni Annasandra Rosario
Ipaglaban Mo: Paano Na Ang Pangarap? Aling Mila ABS-CBN
The Legal Wife Sandra De Villa
2013 Bayan Ko Sylvia Rubio GMA News TV
2012 Magdalena: Anghel sa Putikan Julia "Huling" Hermoso GMA Network
Kung Ako'y Iiwan Mo Sonia Pedroso ABS-CBN
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Gong Apeng Sukay
Legacy Lala Salcedo GMA Network
Kapitan Awesome Samantha Hussein TV5
2011 Maalaala Mo Kaya: Tungkod Linda ABS-CBN
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Bracelet Bebeng
2010 Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Alyna Fausta Del Carmen
Star Confessions: Tisay - The Lala Montelibano Confession Lydia TV5
Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Love Me Again Sonia Barrera ABS-CBN
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Saranggola Luzviminda
2009 Lovers In Paris Julia Francisco-Gatus
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Videoke Letty
Parekoy Mother Dear
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Kalendaryo Lucing
2007 Magpakailanman: The Liza Dela Cruz Story unknown GMA Network
2004 Spirits Queen of the Engkanto ABS-CBN
1998 Halik sa Apoy Marta GMA Network

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lo, Ricky (7 March 2014). "PLDT presents 2014 Bb. Pilipinas pageant". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015.
  2. ^ Nikko Tuazon (20 June 2019). "Maria Isabel Lopez, 60, marries for the second time". pep.ph. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Maria Isabel Lopez denies wishing Stella Marquez-Araneta dead". 23 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Former Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Maria Isabel Lopez attacks BPCI head".
  5. ^ "Maria Isabel Lopez may lose driver's license for breaching ASEAN lane". 12 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Manila traffic official: 'Snipers could've mistaken Maria Isabel Lopez for terrorist' | Coconuts Manila". 14 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Actress Maria Isabel Lopez summoned for Asean lane violation". SunStar. 13 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Maria Isabel Lopez apologizes for driving in ASEAN lane". 12 November 2017.
  9. ^ "LTO cancels Maria Isabel Lopez's driver's license". 27 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Philippines: Actress Maria Isabel Lopez fined for using VIP traffic lane". BBC News. 27 November 2017.
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