Who is Cool Now?
When we were forming a clique of "cool" freshman girls in our Ilang-Ilang class, Arline almost didn’t make the cut. At the time, she was still wearing a sleeveless undershirt—a sando—under her white blouse, while the rest of us had already transitioned to brassieres.
She had what we teased was a "runway" for a chest—so flat an airplane could practically take off from it. She was still physically undeveloped, whereas the four of us who made up the core of the group were already displaying the first signs of maturity and teenage confidence.
Digna’s alluring eyes cast come-hither looks at boys from behind her bangs, while Ana flaunted her sensuous hips on the dance floor. Riza’s mestiza looks were the envy of her peers, and my own serious countenance earned me the nickname "Principal." A single stern glare from me was usually enough to keep the girls from giggling or misbehaving in an unladylike fashion.
Eventually, we expanded the group to include the “brainiacs,” Connie, Elvie, and Fe, who had their noses buried in books most of the time, and, at last, the “innocents”: Arline, Babes, Nanette, and Uro. Although the last three were physically well-endowed, they were still too playful and unsophisticated to hang out with us older, but definitely not “mean” girls. Nanette, now a famous stage and TV personality, recently observed that there seemed to be very few “freaktures” of them with the group. Looking back, maybe that was the reason!
I admit I don’t recall much else about Arline during our high school years. The next time she registered on my radar was many years later, when I happened to spot her standing near the gates of the domestic airport.
I was on my way to Davao; she was heading elsewhere—though where, I no longer recall. What remains permanently etched in my mind was the vision standing before me: a stunning, statuesque, and statuesquely bosomy beauty.
Wasn't it a stroke of poetic justice that we met at an airport, years after we had made fun of her "runway" chest?
Today, Arline could be a role model for any young woman. The proof lies in the dozens of friends who have asked her to stand as a godmother at their children’s weddings. My husband and I were among those grateful friends; Arline and her husband traveled over 7,000 miles just to fulfill that sacred duty for us.
I remember dressing up at home before the ceremony when Arline took one look at me as the mother of the bride. She gently asked if my lone gold necklace with a heart pendant was going to be my only "bling" for such a formal occasion. Of course, it wasn't nearly enough—but it was the only piece of fine jewelry I owned.
Fast-forward to the reception: a guest walked over to the head table just to tell me that the glint from my ring and earrings had been flashing at them from clear across the room! Soon, more friends gathered at our table to gush over the exquisite diamond ring and earring set, along with the Cartier watch, that Arline had quietly lent me for the evening.
That is just who Arline is.
She shares her kind, generous heart not only with her family, but with her friends, relatives, employees, and the broader community in Rosario, Cavite. High school and college reunion organizers are frequently the grateful recipients of her moral and financial support.
Arline found romance with a fellow Prepian we fondly call Siastri (a play on his surname pronounced backwards, Trias) at PGH, UP’s research hospital, where she was a nursing student and he was a medical student. As far as I know, neither of them ever had another romantic interest after that fateful encounter.
At the time, Arline was helping her mother support eight younger siblings following her father’s untimely death. Like many nursing graduates in the Philippines, she initially sought employment in the United States. However, her stay abroad was short-lived; she soon returned home to marry her sweetheart.
For a nurse and a surgeon, running a hospital was a logical foundation for building a life together. Sias was soon presented with an opportunity to acquire his family's tertiary hospital—lock, stock, and barrel—which they managed and built into a thriving enterprise. I once witnessed a typical day from the small window of the hospital cashier’s office, watching a long line of patients settle their bills, from routine lab work to major surgeries, in cash.
The hospital serves the medical needs of the local community, area employees, and factory workers from the nearby industrial zone. As its administrator, Arline discovered a natural business acumen, which she successfully parlayed into several other brick-and-mortar ventures and investments—from government contracting to a chain of mall salons and condo rentals.
A happy marriage, four high-achieving children, and a lifelong commitment to altruism have provided this Ilang-Ilang classmate and Prepian '69 graduate with a rich life, both materially and spiritually.
Today, Arline spends her time traveling the world with her family, commuting between the Philippines and the United States to spoil her five grandchildren. Nurturing, generous, and jet-setting—can anything be cooler than that?
