NPA-infested area. It was in Dicamay and areas proximate to the mountains where many of the high-ranking NPA officers holed out. We were given refuge in an evacuation camp near the town proper of Jones. We continued our studies as transferees at the Dibuluan Elementary School, the school nearest to the evacuation camp and where I finished my elementary education. I would not see Miss Mejia again after that; I learned later on that she had been transferred to another public school. In 2003, 31 years after the declaration of martial law, I went back to my hometown to attend the funeral of a relative. A lady approached me and introduced herself as my former Grade 1 teacher—Miss Mejia. We hugged each other and cried. It was a very emotional moment; we both recalled the past. She said she had heard a lot about me (I was dean of engineering at TIP at that time). In bright tones, she was profuse in saying how she was so proud and felt so rewarded to see that one of her pupils in that godforsaken barrio of Dicamay at the foot of the Sierra Madre had turned out better than her expectations.
One day, I hope to be able to do what Miss Mejia has done to the children in Dicamay.
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From the far foothills of Dicamay, Cynthia C. Llanes went on to higher institutions of learning , garnering a degree in Master of Arts in Teaching at the Central Colleges of the Philippines; a Master of Engineering at the University of Santo Tomas; and a Doctor of is currently vice president for academic affairs at the Technological Institute of the Philippines. Technology at the Technological University of the Philippines. She
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