UPIS ALAB Stories
written by Misha Pallorina Enriquez
header photo by Janna Garcia
research by Ethel Ravena Langkay & Lianne Mirano Romero
UPIS was the place where many of us discovered love: Love of learning, love of true friends, and love for a lifetime.
Reminisce your younger years with this series of UPIS ALAB Stories originally published for Valentine’s Day, and get to know love stories that started in UPIS, but endured beyond.
Omar Romero (UPIS ‘93) & Lianne Mirano Romero (UPIS ‘97)
photo by Mimi Abesamis (UPIS ‘94)
Abi & Byron
From high school sweethearts to doctor duo. Kilig to the bones!
Orthopedic surgeon Byron Gaffud (UPIS ‘97) and anesthesiologist Abi Diokno (UPIS ‘97) are married with two kids (Pio, 5, and Mayumi, 2) in Pasig City. But their story begins in UPIS, where they met in high school despite being batchmates since kindergarten.
“We became classmates during second year high school, 8-Cicada. We never really talked then. He called me during summer break. Telebabad led to one thing, and the rest is history,” Abi shares.
From Abi and Byron:
By supporting ALAB UPIS we are in a way saying ‘thank you’ to the UPIS community that helped pave the way of who and what we are today. It's also a way for us to reconnect with our batchmates.
Anne & Avid
Some of the best love stories are not romantic. But they’re equally full of heart.
Anne Mercado Clark (UPIS ‘97) and Avid Liongoren (UPIS ‘97) prove that opposites attract!
From Anne and Avid:
We met sometime in kindergarten. Although we had very different personalities and Bioman teams, we became fast friends and have remained so throughout the years through snail mail, dial-up internet and social media. We celebrated each other’s successes (even walking the MTV Philippines VMAs red carpet together when Avid had nominations for Best Director and Best MV) and smoothed over tough losses with Sharon Cuneta VCDs.
Ours is a friendship of loyalty, well-meaning okrayan and personal investment: Avid was betting on gaining free doctor services but Anne’s pivot to law is equally useful while Anne is waiting to get into showbiz so the world may bear witness to her karaoke singing prowess and La Bamba dance moves.
AJ & Laly
Our celebration of love wouldn’t be complete without recognizing the true and lasting love found in friendship.
AJ Cruz (UPIS ‘97) and Laly Birung Rayos Del Sol (UPIS ‘97) have been gal pals for 29 years, from 7-Earth to Manila and California, bound together by a love of food and more food.
AJ shares:
We had a barkada called DREAMS (me, Laly, Maha, Aisa, Cathy and AL) and we loved to eat so much na kulang yung baon namin, so we started bringing canned goods for back-up. We always ate lunch at the bat cave then walked to K-2 for manggang hilaw.
We had this motto in high school: Stick to one (one crush at a time) and study hard. Ang tipid sa crush. We also had a notebook, like a shared diary where we wrote letters to each other.
We’re very protective over each other. When people say unkind things about me, si Laly pa ‘yung mas nagagalit!
Through the years we’ve tried to be present in each other’s milestones even though we are thousands of miles away from each other. We supported each other’s passion no matter what.
We see ourselves in the UPIS students today. We know they have great potential to make significant contributions to society. Through ALAB UPIS, we want to help them so that financial limitations don’t hinder their bright future.
JE & Tia
Kung mahilig kang mag-F.L.A.M.E.S. noon, ngayon it’s time to fan the flames with another UPIS ALAB Story!
Voted Couple of the Year in the UPIS ‘97 yearbook, JE Salonga and Tia Peralta Salonga are a true story of a spark turning into an eternal flame.
From Tia:
We met in first year high school (7-Pluto). A crush at first sight (for JE, haha) slowly grew then turned “official” at our sophomore-year acquaintance party, and became a full-blown lifelong commitment. Twenty-seven years and two children later, we are still growing together and learning new things about each other.
We have fond memories of UPIS: walking to the bat cave, having isaw after school and skipping classes in grade 10 to check out the new Sta Lucia East Grand Mall.
We were two young kids then who came from different backgrounds. Being in UPIS allowed us to pursue our own interests. For example, I was in the student council and volleyball team, and JE was into his friends and his band. This helped enrich our unlikely pairing and define who we are today.
Sir Dick & Ma’am Pinky
Mahilig ka bang tumambay sa UPIS high school library? Humiram ng libro while holding hands? Ilang love story kaya ang nalimbag sa pagitan ng mga pahina dito?
Alamin ang ALAB Story sa aklatan!
Sir Dick Dipol and Ma’am Pinky Rofiles Dipol first met in 1994 as librarians in the UPIS library. Little did they know, love was written in the books for them and they said "I do" in 1997. So you guessed it: Batch ‘97 shares the same anniversary with the librarian pair!
Here’s their heartfelt message to the batch: Salamat sa patuloy na pag-alala at pagiging committed sa UPIS. Mabuhay kayo!
Sarangheyo!
Tag #ALABUPIS with your UPIS pictures so we can share the love.
About ALAB UPIS:
A project of UP Integrated School Batch ‘97, ALAB UPIS is raising funds to help underserved UPIS scholars, give back to faculty and staff, and host the school’s 2022 homecoming. Shop UP and UPIS inspired merch or donate here. Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram and tag #ALABUPIS!