Luisa

Maria Luisa Arches Posa was born on August 10, 1955 to Maximino Posa of Pototan town, Iloilo Province and Lilia Arches of Roxas City, Capiz Province. She was delivered in Roxas City where her parents were both employed with the PACD Capiz.

Both her parents came from the landed gentry. Luisa and her siblings were raised in a middle class milieu of professional parents, aunts and uncles. Luisa was the fifth child in an eight children brood.

She got her education in schools in Capiz and Iloilo in the 60’s. Her elementary education and High School education was with the nuns of Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus of Pototan. She graduated High School in 1970.

She had a year or two of High School and College in Purisima College in Roxas City and in the University of San Agustin (USA) in Iloilo City. She was unable to finish her studies then when Martial Rule was declared and was force to go underground in 1972.

While starting college in USA Iloilo, she became active in the protest movement against the Marcos administration and other social issues. A year later, martial rule was declared and she chose to resist it together with many other student youth.

She was first arrested in the latter part of 1972 when the Marcos dictatorship embarked on a massive campaign of repression against all dissent. Two days later, she was able to escape from detention. This became the first of four other arrests, series of mental and physical torture and indefinite detentions. She escaped two other times and was legally released on two other times. All in all, Maria Luisa was detained for a combined 10 years. In the last instance, she was charged with rebellion and murder against the Marcos Martial Rule during President Aquino’s time. All her cases were dismissed being trumped up ones that could not stand to the court’s scrutiny.

During these times Luisa was married to Tomas Dominado, a fellow dissenter and bore their first child. On March 28, 1977, Luisa and Tomas got married in church while in detention. It was only in May 1, 1982 that they begot May Wan after being reunited outside detention.

Another child, Tamara, came along exactly a decade later on May 1, 1992.

After being released in April 1991 with all her cases dismissed, Luisa resumed her studies in Central Philippine University and graduated cum laude with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Education.

She resumed being active in people’s issues, cause-oriented organizations and socio-economic activities. Her long-term commitments were to livelihood projects, environmental concerns, electoral advocacy and even alumni organizations.

She led projects that involved in generating employment and additional income to thousands of farmers and workers in the organic sugar production and export business. She was secretary and board member of the Panay Fair Trade Corporation that specializes in people-oriented organic sugar production that has a special niche in green-conscious European consumers when exported. She lobbied for salary and wage hikes in Congress. She campaign to oppose such administration measures as Expanded Value-Added Tax, oil price hikes and deregulation of fuel prices.

Luisa campaigned lately for compensation for the Guimaras oil spill. She solicited projects for the relocation of shoreline victims of the oil spill. She also joined campaign to oppose the introduction of the pollutive Coal-Fired Power Plant.

On the day of her abduction, she went to Antique to negotiate votes for Party-List Bayan Muna and Anakpawis from Governor Sally Perez and Congressman Exequiel Javier. She was in the thick of the campaign for votes for such parties.

She even found time to work as Vice-President of the Alumni Association of her high school class of Colegio de las Hijas de Jesus of Pototan. She was not able to finish gathering pictures of alumni to be presented at this year’s homecoming annual.