Birth and Childhood

Young Maria Luisa.
(photo taken by J.I.E Teodoro)

Maria Luisa was born at January 31, 1944 in their house in Brgy. Singcang, Bacolod City. She is the second child of Remedios and Reymundo Defante among seven siblings. Her mother is a housewife and his father was a land tax appraiser at the Bacolod City Hall.

“I had a very happy childhood,” Maria Luisa said when she fondly recalled how her brother would take away the food from her plate. “Because she ate a lot,” she said laughing.

Maria Luisa's Family.
(photo taken by J.I.E Teodoro)

 She was not an industrious student but her grades were not bad. Since she is second to the eldest, she was tasked to take good care of her younger sisters and a brother. She was in-charge of the family’s laundry.

(Augustinian, The Social Sciences and Humanities Journal of the University of San Agustin, Vol. 11, May 2007. Writing and Loving, Loving and Writing: A short Bibliography of Maria Luisa S. Defante-Gibraltar, by J.I.E Teodoro)