Early Life
Maria Venus Raj was born to an Indian father and a Filipino mother. Raj was taken by her mother to Bato, Camarines Sur in Bicol Region, Philippines as an infant and was registered by an aunt as a Philippine-born child. Raj grew up with her mother, a former tenant farmer and dressmaker.
Raj lived in a nipa hut made of wood, bamboo and anahaw leaves with no electricity in the middle of a sprawling rice field in the rural town of Bato for more than twenty years. She allegedly used rice paddy dikes for her early training where she eventually developed her distinct catwalk.
The youngest of five children, Maria Venus Raj started out by joining local beauty pageants. She also joined oratorical contests at San Vicente High School where her English teacher served as her coach. With her victories in major contests, Venus Raj had bought land on an installment basis for her mother as a means of improving their livelihood.
Raj obtained her Diploma in Communications Arts, major in Journalism, at Bicol University in Albay, with Latin honors (Cum Laude). She graduated through the scholarship that she received from the Francis Papica Foundation. She worked as an Information Assistant for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Region V. In addition to this, she also worked as a part-time fashion model in her native Bicol and Manila.
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