Actor Julio Diaz rushed to hospital in serious condition

Julio Diaz. INQUIRER file

Updated at 8:37 a.m., April 10, 2016

First published at 7:37 p.m., April 9, 2016

Actor Julio Diaz, 57, was rushed to the hospital on Friday night in serious condition, various sources told INQUIRER.

Talent manager Ed Instrella said Diaz lost consciousness on Saturday and relatives suspected he had a stroke. Long-time collaborator and friend, director Brillante Mendoza earlier told INQUIRER Diaz had a heart attack.

As of posting, INQUIRER was still verifying the condition of Diaz.

Quoting Diaz’s sister Regaliza Datuin, Instrella said the actor needed surgery within 24 hours to prevent brain aneurysm following a severe headache.

Friends and relatives have started raising funds for Diaz who was first confined at a hospital in Quezon City. He has reportedly been transferred to a hospital in Taguig City, where he was under observation.

Datuin appealed for prayers and medical assistance for the actor.

Diaz was born Mariano de Leon Regaliza on Nov. 18, 1958, in Quiapo, Manila.

He has starred in more than 50 films and is best known for his roles in movies like “Sakay” (1993), “Flor Contemplacion Story” (1995), “Serbis” (2008) and “Kinatay” (2009).

The veteran actor was nominated for Best Actor in the Famas Awards of 1993 for his role in “Bayani” and in 1994 for his role in “Sakay.” He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the Gawad Urian Awards in 2009 for his role in” Serbis” and in 2011 for his role in “Magkakapatid.”

Besides “Serbis” and “Kinatay”, Diaz worked with Mendoza in the 2015 film “Taklub,” a docu-film about the survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda. It won the Ecumenical Jury Prize-Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in May last year. Bayani San Diego with a report from Inquirer Research/RC/TVJ