黑料社 COMPOSITE / Jerome Cristobal
MANILA, Philippines鈥擨t鈥檚 Valentine鈥檚 Day. Again, love is in the air, and depending on the gift one might receive or send, some might smell it, while some can see, touch, or taste it.
February 14 has always been a special day, although most of its history remains shrouded in mystery. However, historians have previously found that the modern romantic notion attached to the celebration hardly shares a resemblance to how it was celebrated centuries ago.
Historical accounts said that the earliest possible origin of Valentine鈥檚 Day was the pagan holiday Lupercalia鈥攁n ancient Roman festival of fertility. However, following the rise of Christianity, the festival was deemed 鈥渦nChristian.鈥�
Toward the end of the 5th century, the Catholic Church declared February 14 as St. Valentine鈥檚 Day to commemorate and celebrate the martyred Saint Valentine.
However, much about Valentine鈥檚 Day was based on competing origin stories. Encyclopedia Britannica noted that the holiday鈥檚 true origin is 鈥渧ague at best.鈥�
鈥淰alentine鈥檚 Day did not come to be celebrated as a day of romance until about the 14th century,鈥� Encyclopedia Britannica stated.
Same ideal gifts
Historical accounts vary on when Valentine鈥檚 Day became a commercial holiday.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Valentines first appeared in the form of formal messages in the 1500s, and commercially printed cards dedicated to the date were used as early as the 1700s.
Encyclopedia Britannica likewise noted that the first commercial Valentine鈥檚 cards in the United States were printed in the mid-1800s.
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan
National Geographic said that the ever-popular tradition of giving Valentine鈥檚 Day cards started in 1415 when the Duke of Orl茅ans sent a card鈥攖he very first Valentine鈥檚 Day card鈥攖o his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London.
However, it was only in the early 1900s that cards were mass-produced for the celebration.
As years go back, other traditional gifts for this holiday鈥攁side from printed Valentine cards鈥攊ncluded candy and flowers.
A study from data analysis website showed that many people still choose to give their significant other traditional Valentine鈥檚 Day gifts.
Data from the 2021 study revealed that 15 percent of Filipino men preferred to buy flowers, and 16 percent would get sweets as Valentine鈥檚 gifts. At least 10 percent of Filipino women chose to give sweets, while 9 percent decided on Valentine鈥檚 Day cards.
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan
The study also recorded other ideal gifts among Filipinos of both genders, which include tickets to cinema or concerts, dinner at a restaurant, and food on delivery.
Meeting expectations
While some Filipinos still opt for customary Valentine鈥檚 gifts, the list of what some Filipinos expect to receive has somewhat adapted to changing times.
When the same study by asked what gifts Filipinos expected to get from their significant others, among the most desired gifts identified by female respondents were food on delivery (54 percent), dinner at a restaurant (42 percent), gift card (28 percent), tickets to cinema or concert (24 percent), and money (22 percent).
As for the men, the most expected option was food on delivery (41 percent), dinner at a restaurant (41 percent), sweets (19 percent), money (19 percent), and gift cards (15 percent).
GRAPHIC: Ed Lustan
The results were from an online survey in January 2021, when different areas nationwide were still under lockdowns or strict quarantine measures.
Respondents for similar surveys conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic notably did not include food on delivery and dinner at a restaurant as their most desired gifts for Valentine鈥檚 Day.
Spending more on gifts
As former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director-general Cielito Habito wrote in a 2017 column published on , as time passes by, Valentine鈥檚 Day has become 鈥渁n occasion less about loving and more about spending and profits.鈥�
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Previous surveys showed that around 30 percent of Filipino men and 16 percent of women said they would spend money for dinner at a restaurant during Valentine鈥檚 Day.
Last year, estimated that a dinner for two in a mid-price restaurant with wine and cinema screening costs $64 or over P3,000鈥攁n equivalent of at least six days鈥� worth of minimum wage in Metro Manila.
The website also found that, on average, Filipinos spent up to P1,421 on Valentine鈥檚 gifts in 2021.