WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

MELITO L. DARVIN

Melit is from Imus and comes from a family of educators, among them his dad, mom and an aunt, just to name a few. Mild mannered and easy going, he was a very popular guy on campus when he was in high school. Although busy with his academic work, he was also active in several school clubs and the Boy Scouts where he was a Maginoo/Venturer Scout and a Program Officer. He can still recall his very memorable first dance in high school. It was a slow dance to the tune of rock legend Eric Clapton's "Bell Bottom Blues" but he cannot remember the girl he danced with. What a shame! He graduated with honors and later finished higher education at the Mapua Institute of Technology and the De LaSalle University. He has been with the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) company since 1982 and is presently a Telecom Consultant. He is a Member of the Imus Institute's Board of Trustees and Director of its Multi-Purpose Cooperative. He has held several important positions with the Imus "Haligue" Jaycees and the Philippine Jaycees since 1993 where he is the current National Secretary-General. He lives in Bacoor with his family but still considers Imus as another home. He is married to Rosario Anna "Cheng" Custodio of Cavite City and they have a 3-year old son, Andrei Joseph or AJ. Melit is the main driving force behind II Class 1976's preparation for the upcoming 25th Anniversary Reunion and hosting of the annual II Grand Alumni Homecoming in January, 2001. He is calling on his fellow alumni to support the class' scholarship project and fund raising activities. He is also extending his invitation to all II Class 1976 alumni to join the big 25th Anniversary celebration in 2001. (052999)

LOURDES L. ORDOÑEZ

Lourdes or "Lodi" is from Medicion 2nd in Imus. She now lives with her family in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, 25 miles north west of Manhattan in New York City where she works. She and her Colombian husband, Gus Palacio, are proud parents of 7-year old twins, Danica Mae and Anthony Vince (Danica was born three minutes ahead of Anthony). Lodi left the Philippines in August, 1984 and has lived in New Jersey since. A regular in the Imus Institute's honor roll, she was also active in other extra curricular activities, among them as a regular contributor and member of the staff of the school paper, "The Mango", and on her senior year, a delegate to the Boys and Girls Week, a representative in the Regional Physics quiz and a sponsor in the Citizen Army Training program. Marie Samaniego, Daisy Camaña and Celia Dulog were among her very good friends in high school. As with the teachers, among her favorites were Mrs. Carmelita Gain, Mr. Honesto Darvin and Miss Lolita Bilugan. She graduated from high school with honors before completing her college education in 1981 at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. She worked for the Philippine Ministry of Human Settlements Engineering Department for a short time before she moved to the United States. She co-hosted our class' last big reunion in 1984 at the Covelandia Island Resort in Binakayan with Ding Torres. (063099)

MELCHOR S. SAIQUE

There were a few Imus Institute Class 1976 alumni who were known to be quiet but very dilligent in their studies and yet extremely friendly. Melchor is one of them. He was born in what used to be a town called Makati, now a city, in the province of Rizal, but he grew up in Binakayan, Kawit in an area called "Martilyo". He wasn't really into joining school clubs unless forced by the teacher so that his extra-curricular activities then were the usual mandatory memberships in the Boy Scouts and the Citizen Army Training. Getting exempted from Final Examinations are very memorable for him, that to this day, he still remembers those teachers who exempted him from these exams! He was particularly very good in Mathematics. While attending Mapua Institute of Technology, he had excellent grades in all the math courses. He graduated in October of 1980. After working for a few years in the Philippines, he decided to seek greener pastures in Singapore, where he moved in August of 1990. This is where he met his charming Singaporean wife, Audrey Syn. They now have a 7-month old son named Mark Angelo. He is looking forward to a memorable 25th Anniversary Reunion with his high school classmates. (revised 110599)

(Background is Juan Luna's "Study for Rice Harvesting", 1895)