Message 

     To Bob & Inay

                                                     Anna Soriano
                     40-D Times St., West Triangle Homes, Quezon City

                                                                                     December 2001

Dear Batchmates,

               It's  wonderful  for  me  to  have  this  chance  to  greet you on our  20th
anniversary!  I  thought  I would  just join my father in his message to our  class.
It's  quite  a  "mouthful" already  --  "From  Action  to  Passion".   And  to  think
"speechless"  na  siya  ngayon!  Happily  though,  I  felt I had something else to 
share.

               I  count  myself  among  those  of  us  who probably struggled in  filling
out  the  information  sheet requested of us to update our batch directory.  Such
"simple tasks"  are   actually  big   tasks  for   me  because  after  20   years   from
high  school  I still  have  not managed to clearly define by way of a calling card
exactly   what   I   have   become  or  what  I  am   meant  to  be. ( I must mention,
though, that I never  realized until very recently how precious it is to have  been
Class  President   20  years ago. That's  one  "title"  I  will   always  be  proud  of!
Salamat sa mga bumoto sa akin noon! )  It happened  that at that time of  filling
up  these  info  sheets  I   was,  together  with   my  mother,   mainly  co-giver  to
my  father  who suffered a massive stroke in 1996. After mentally going  through
my  rather  unstructured  curriculum  vitae,  I decided,  "Sige  na  nga  call me  a
'caregiver'."  --  a  professional  classification   that  I  felt  applied   to  whatever
work  I  have  found  meaningful to do and would guide me in my future endeav-
ors. We are all caregivers in our own right.

                The thought that I want to  share with you  now has given me a strong
sense of purpose and has helped me tremendously in those big tasks I am faced
with --  such  as  filing out  one of  those  information  sheets  which, if you read
between  the  lines,  says,  "Sino ka?" I  now  think  that  the  only thing we can
really  own  is  our  life story.  "My life is my work," is my usual reply now when
I  am  asked,  "What do you do?" This is the challenge for all of us and I believe
the   playing  field  is  quite   equal. You  don't  need  a  lot  of  capital  for  this.  I
remember  joking  our  batchmate  Melvin  Mangada  once, "Sige, Melvin, sa 'yo
ko  ibibigay  ang  rights  para  gawing  pelikula ang buhay ko." As is .... And
Melvin  very  smartly replied,  "O sige, pero  baka  sub-plot  ka  lang  sa buhay
ko!"

                 Well,   batchmates,    we are mostly  in   mid-life,  I  guess,  or  at   least
approaching  that  phase  in  life. Our  destinies  will  surely keep  us weaving in
and  out  of  each  other's lives.  Let's keep  in touch and always be there to care
for  each  other.  Let's  continue  with our lives, crafting it, and making each step
a thanksgiving for the many blessings we have received - not the least of which
is our life together in U.P.I.S. Treasure this as a wellspring. I have.

                  Allow me  to  end  with  heartfelt  thanks  to our beloved teachers, the
whole   U.P.I.S.   community,   and   our  first   teachers  -  our parents  -  without
whom....

                   Maraming, maraming SALAMT PO!

                                                                                   Very Sincerely,
                                                           
View Obet's message