Carlos “Charlie” Cojuangco, the representative of the first district of Tarlac and son of the businessman and politician Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, has passed away. He was 58 years old. The news was confirmed by his wife, China Jocson-Cojuangco, in a post on Facebook.
Cojuangco was rushed to the hospital in late October after suffering from an aneurysm while driving inside the Clark Speedway racetrack.
This photograph was taken in 2020 at the Cojuangcos' ancestral house in New Manila
Cojuangco was the youngest son of Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco and Soledad “Gretchen” Oppen-Cojuangco. In a previous profile on Esquire Philippines, he said he grew up in the family’s ancestral house in New Manila, Quezon City but spent summers in Tarlac and Pangasinan, as well as his mother’s home province of Negros.
In 1992, his father ran for president, but lost to Fidel Ramos. But Charlie, who was persuaded by his father to run for mayor, won his race. He served two terms as mayor and three terms as congressman, the last of which he finished in 2007.
But in 2015, he was again persuaded to run by his father, this time as representative in Tarlac, after his uncle Enrique “Henry” Cojuangco died. He had initially declined the offer to run but conversations with his father made him change his mind.
Charlie was married to the actress and former beauty queen Rio Diaz, with whom he had two children: Jaime and Claudia. Diaz passed away in 2004.
That year, he first met Jocson, who was then a reporter for GMA News and was covering the wake of Diaz. But they did not get together until years later. The two were married on October 10, 2021, in civil rites in Tarlac.
China and Charlie Cojuangco got married in October 2021
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Details of the wake have not yet been announced.
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