Lola Filomena, high school sophomore

URDANETA CITY, Pangasinan , Philippines  – Filomena Zamora is a diligent sophomore student at the Anonas National High School in this city, sometimes going to school with goats, puppies and chicks in tow because no one would take care of them at home. She raises these animals for her schooling and everyday expenses.

She puts the animals in a big basket, each with a diaper so the droppings would not foul up the school.

Her classmates call her Lola Filomena, and she is 72 years old. She was featured in The STAR when she graduated from elementary last year.

Perseverance is just one of the things that her classmates admire in Lola Filomena.

Her teacher Barbara Milo said her age doesn’t prevent her from relating to the subjects being taught in school.

“She is very familiar with the use of maps and was much applauded when she recied in class on this,” Milo said.

Favorite classmate

Lola Filomena’s favorite classmate, Wendell John Antolin, helps her with their lessons, copying notes from the blackboard into her notebook when her fingers become stiff from writing too much.

Her seatmate Len Napalit said their classmates enjoy listening to Lola Filomena’s life stories during their free time.

“Her stories inspire us,” Napalit said.

Princess Calidro, another seatmate, said Lola Filomena is very kind, sharing her baon and even money with her classmates during lunchtime.

Real classroom

Milo said Lola Filomena prefers to be in a real classroom than enroll under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of the Department of Education.

Under ALS, over-age students or dropouts who decide to go back to school undergo tests to determine their grade or year level.

Lola Filomena said elementary was quite easy but high school is an entirely different thing.

“It’s difficult but I’m coping,” she said.

“I feel more relaxed in school but my brain is being tortured,” she added, laughing.

She had joined two camping activities of the Girl Scouts, of which she is a member, and her classmates and fellow girl scouts enjoyed the food she prepared for them.

Lola Filomena also gamely joins other school activities like cook fests and earthquake drills.

Darling of the press

Even the media have become fans of Lola Filomena.

Apart from The STAR, Lola Filomena has also been featured in local and national television.

Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. said, “The old lady’s story is inspiring - that age is not a hindrance to acquire an education. I hope this will be inculcated into the minds of our young people, for them to follow her good example.”

Lola Filomena did not plant on going to high school after her elementary graduation but her teachers, principal and supervisor encouraged her to continue studying.

Although she is encountering some difficulties, Lola Filomena said she looks forward to the day when she would finish high school.

“Maybe by that time, all my relatives would again attend my graduation the way they did when I finished elementary two years ago. They came in two vans and one bus,” she said.

Lola Filomena used to take her granddaughter Joana, then in grade 1, to a school near their home. Then one day, she decided to enroll, too. Grandmother and granddaughter later became schoolmates.