Romance wafts through chill and thrill of Baguio

BAGUIO CITY: Saying ‘I love you’ personally or via phone calls and text messages; going to church or malls for shopping, dining or just shooting the breeze took the high points of a survey conducted here to find out how couples spend quality time together or with their children.

Saint Louis University professor and statistician Zenaida Garambas said that they conducted a random survey among couples in Baguio City as part of the National Family Week Celebration this September.

Garambas, a member of the National Family Week Steering Committee, said that swapping sweet words like ‘ I love you’ or terms of endearment are among the highest points of the survey. She said that most couples surveyed say ‘ I love you’ every time, personally or even through phone calls and text messages.

Also high in the survey: couples tend to go to malls regularly to shop, dine or engage in other activities. This has been a trending activity of couples for themselves or even with their children, which is considered their outdoor family activity.

Among the low points: couples nowadays are less expressive in showing their affection for each other. Many couples are not showy or do not engage in public display of affection like kissing when swapping goodbyes at parting. They also do not have romantic dinners or such activities just for the couples.

Association of Barangay Captain President and Councilor Joel Alangsab said that the survey does not capture the whole of Baguio City but only a few who were surveyed.

“Ang mga residente dito sa Baguio at sa mga karatig lugar sa Cordillera ay hindi showy, we hide our feelings lalo na sa publiko pero hindi ibig sabihin na hindi nila mahal ang isa’t isa [Residents in Baguio and in the Cordillera are not showy, we hide our feelings in public but it does not mean that we do not love each other],” Alangsab said.

Sociologist Maria Aplaten also explained that Cordillerans are really not that expressive in how they love their partners. Cordillerans, she said, are by nature not expressive or display their affection in public but rather they show it in action through the accomplishment for their families.

Most couples especially Catholics spend weekends in church and later go to restaurants for lunch or dinner; others go to mall or parks with their kids.