1 month ago
12
Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
February 14, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — This Valentine’s season, more Filipinos prefer to receive love and companionship than material things like money and flowers.
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, conducted from Dec. 12 to 18 and released ahead of Valentine’s Day today, showed that 19 percent of the respondents have love and companionship on top of their wishlist.
It was up eight points from the 11 percent obtained in a similar survey in December 2023.
Those who prefer money, which topped the 2023 poll, dropped from 16 percent to 10 percent in the latest survey.
Ten percent of the respondents also said that they prefer to receive flowers, similar to the previous survey.
Other preferred gifts include “any gift from the heart” (eight percent), good family relationship (six percent), apparel (four percent), health of love ones (three percent), food and grocery items (two percent), greetings (two percent), happiness (two percent) and chocolate (two percent).
Those selected by one percent or less of the respondents include motorcycle and other vehicles, cellphone, house and lot, watch and jewelry, kiss, appliances, date, child, travel, cake, cosmetics and medicines.
Love and companionship were top of the wishlists of both men and women respondents.
It was followed by “any gift from the heart” among men and money among women.
The poll also found almost seven in 10 Filipinos or 67 percent show their love through acts of service, such as cooking a meal, running errands, helping with chores or fixing things even without being asked.
Some 51 percent said they show it through words of affirmation and quality time, 33 percent by giving gifts and 29 percent through physical touch.
The respondents were allowed to select multiple answers for this question.
The SWS poll showed that only 46 percent of the respondents are “very happy” with their love life, the lowest in two decades.
Thirty-six percent said it could be happier while 18 percent said they do not have a love life.
The survey had 2,160 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus two percent.
Romance scams rise
The Philippines recorded a sharp increase in the number of entities and individuals potentially linked to romance scams as global cases reached their highest level in six years, according to data from Moody’s.
According to a report, Moody’s identified 1,193 new profiles globally with potential ties to romance scams in 2024, a 14 percent rise from 2023.
In the Philippines, the number of flagged entities and individuals surged to 45 this year, up from just 10 in 2023. The country accounted for four percent of all new romance scam profiles globally, ranking among the top 10 countries affected.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Elmore Capule earlier said
that romance scammers often exploit senior citizens and vulnerable people.
Meanwhile, for couples wanting memorable, romantic moments this Valentine’s day, the National Parks Development Committee is offering music, food, flowers, love messages and more at Rizal Park today. – Keisha Ta-asan, Evelyn Macaira
