Love songs, free roses, chocolates for Valentines' Day flower shoppers in Philippines

On Wednesday, February 14, a group of young laypeople will come to Dangwa, a flower market in Manila, to play love songs and gift last-minute shoppers with free roses, chocolates, and candies. 

A busker will serenade the shoppers with love songs. 

The group calls this effort "a chastity and true love campaign." They will also deliver anti-porn and pro-life messages at the flower market. 

“With this initiative, we hope to promote the beauty of love, family, and marriage because they are gifts from God that should be cherished,” said Angelique Cabrieto, the main organizer of the campaign. 

Since 2023, young Catholics from various organizations, such as Couples For Christ-Singles for Christ, Prolife Philippines, and LEAP, "have been continuing a V-day tradition of distributing free candy with messages promoting chaste love and marriage." 

Cabrieto noted that the campaign aims to inspire "these people to a love that is pure, chaste, patient, committed, long-lasting, and faithful."

If more Filipinos lived out the virtues of chastity and purity, they could address some of the issues confronting society.

Cabrieto stated that threats involving the hook-up culture have triggered a rise in the number of people with STDs and HIV. 

The hook-up culture has also swelled the number of children growing up in broken homes, she added. 

"We believe that committing oneself faithfully to one partner in marriage should still be the ideal norm for those called to marriage," Cabrieto said. "There is also a growing concern about protecting the Filipino family, since more than half of the total registered live births in 2021 were born out of wedlock."

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority puts the number of infants born to unmarried parents at 57.1%. 

This could further make the infants more vulnerable to the "instability of their environments," she explained. 

The group proposes abstinence and waiting for true love to mature instead of resorting to contraception methods. 

“It is important to promote purity and chastity, especially among the Filipino youth, for them to avoid getting pregnant while not being equipped to raise children," Cabrieto said. "They might also be tempted to consider abortion or leave school at a young age to raise their children.”