Love Story

As young teacher at 19 years old

  He had met his husband through Hiligaynon. She was 19 when she became a teacher and when her stories started to appear in Hiligaynon magazine. Her graduation picture, her short biography, and her mailing address were published along with one of her stories.

 A month so later, Maria Luisa received scores of letters from men wanting to befriend her. Some even proposed marriage to her. She let her mother chose three letters with good penmanship. The two letters came from engineers working in Guam  and agriculturist working in Iloilo.

One of the two from Guam came home to the Philippines and visited her in Bacolod. He was eager to bring her to Guam to be his wife, but she doesn’t want to stay there. The one from Iloilo, Ciriaco Gibraltar, also came to visit her. It was not love at first sight but that encounter sealed their faith together forever.

Her wedding.

         “Because he had the best penmanship,” she answered laughing when asked why she chose Ciriaco to be her husband. The truth is she was impressed with him because he was a scholar athlete in track and field in his student days, he is well-behaved and does not have any vice.

They got married on 7 June 1969 in San Antonio Parish in Bacolod City. They have three children, Marianne Loise, Remedios Beatririz and Cirio Ray.

Maria Luisa’s husbund has been very supportive of her writing. In fact, it is Ciriaco who do the cooking and other chores in order to give her more space and time to write her essays, short stories, poems, and novels. He was her number one fan. 

“Because he had the best penmanship,” she answered laughing when asked why she chose Ciriaco to be her husband. The truth is she was impressed with him because he was a scholar athlete in track and field in his student days, he is well-behaved and does not have any vice.

They got married  on 7 June 1969 in San Antonio Parish in Bacolod City. They have three children, Marianne Loise, Remedios Beatririz and Cirio Ray.

With her son.

Maria Luisa’s husbund has been very supportive of her writing. In fact, it is Ciriaco who do the cooking and other chores in order to give her more space and time to write her essays, short stories, poems, and novels. He was her number one fan.