MANILA, Philippines ? At the height of the People Power rallies at Edsa in 1986, Vilma Arce would sneak out of her Makati office to join the thousands of street protesters who logged in long hours at the standoff against the Marcos dictatorship. She was then two months pregnant with a baby that she had hoped would be a direct beneficiary of the country?s democratic gains.

More than a week later, Arce was rushed to hospital, stricken with fever and rashes. The results of the medical tests were dreadful: she had been infected with the Rubella virus, the most virulent kind of German measles. Her baby, according to the doctor, would be born either blind or deaf, or with a serious heart problem, or all of these maladies as is usually the case 90 percent of the time.

The doctor had presented her the option of terminating her pregnancy, but Arce, a practicing Catholic, knew she couldn?t go through with the abortion. ?I will accept whatever the Lord gives me,? she said, praying for peace. To her surprise, the pregnancy turned out to be easier than her previous one. The childbirth was even easier, ?I was malling at about 7 p.m. By 9, I had labor pains and that?s it,? she recalled.

Ana Kristina Arce was born October 27, 1986. Remembering the Rubella virus, Arce immediately asked her doctor to check the baby?s fingers: ?Are they complete?? she asked anxiously. Assured that the baby had no missing or deformed body parts, Arce looked at the infant closely. ?Ang ganda-gandang bata (she was beautiful),? she remembers thinking.

Initially, the child seemed unaffected by the Rubella virus. She wasn?t blind, her heart was working well and her limbs complete. Even her hearing seemed normal. ?She would react to noises,? her parents observed. Or maybe, as Arce now admits, she was simply ignoring the signs until she couldn?t ignore them any longer.

When baby Ana was 11 months old, Arce noticed her leaning close to the television set, her ears pressed to the speakers while the set was on. The sight brought home what she had been dreading all this time: the virus had affected her child.

Medical tests confirmed it: Baby Ana?s right ear was 90 percent out while her left ear had 30 percent residual hearing. Since deaf people can?t hear, they also have problems using their voice box so they can hardly talk. According to the psychologist, Ana?s ability to say ?mama? and ?papa? are instinctive; all babies do that, even deaf ones.

Advised that Ana should be treated like any other child, she was enrolled in a mainstream toddler school where she had to wear hearing aids. Despite that, it wasn?t easy for Ana to adjust; she transferred to three different schools, trying to find a workable fit. She also had one-on-one lessons at home on mathematics and the alphabet.

Arce also consulted with the John Tracy Clinic in the US for a supplementary education program for deaf children. On top of caring for her two sons, she also personally took care of her daughter, often sneaking out of her office to see to her needs. ?I cannot just entrust Ana to a nanny,? she said.

The decision to enroll Ana in a hearing school was a form of wishful thinking on her part, Arce admitted. ?Secretly I had hoped she would learn to speak.? The speech therapy wasn?t working, but her little girl, Arce noticed, ?is a natural leader.?

At birthday parties where Ana was invited, she would stand up and join the games voluntarily, unlike other kids who needed to be forced to participate. In fact, she would pull the other kids too timid to join in, encouraging and guiding them through the games. ?It was okay with her even if she didn?t win the games, but she?d always smile if given a prize,? Arce recounted.

But given Ana?s limitations, there were awkward moments. She would continue dancing even if the music had already stopped, said her mother sadly. ?Seeing that, I could only cry,? Arce added.

When Ana entered the Philippine School for the Deaf where sign language is used, she quickly adjusted and started doing well in her subjects, bagging three outstanding students? awards in grade school and becoming class valedictorian. This continued through high school in the same school. Apart from academics and an award for her equestrian skills, Ana also gained notice for being helpful to her classmates, assisting them with their homework and even lending them money. ?May listahan siya (she had a list of debtors),? her mother said proudly.

For college, Ana initially enrolled at Miriam College where hearing and non-hearing students are grouped together. Although there are interpreters, she apparently felt left out when the other students did not include her in group work. She quit soon after and enrolled at Kumon for tutorials three times a week. Although she was the oldest student among toddlers, she didn?t mind. The teacher knew sign language and she was learning.

Today, Ana is a junior student at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (DLS-CSB SDEAS), majoring in Applied Deaf Studies. She is in fact the school?s poster girl, the student in the brochure signing ?I Love You.?

This August Ana Kristina Arce will be one of four DLS-CSB SDEAS student ambassadors to a worldwide leadership-training workshop for deaf students in the United Kingdom. Although the written language is not the natural language of deaf people, she loves to read and write.

While Arce continues to worry that her daughter might find it difficult to land a job after graduation, since not many companies employ deaf graduates, it is apparent in Ana?s writings where her passion lies: she will be an advocate for the deaf community, an author, a teacher, and definitely, glad tidings to both the hearing and non-hearing world.