So, did Enrique Gil's I Am Not Big Bird do well yesterday, Valentine's Day? It's a raunchy movie that would click with Pinoy lovers of Filipino/Tagalog flicks.

But its opening day coincided with Ash Wednesday, which ushered the Lenten season for the Catholics in this country.

So, what did the Pinoys go for to celebrate love and loving?

Some claimed that instead of a date out, they would rather receive cash gifts. That's according to a non-commissioned poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations last December but whose results were shared to the public just last Sunday, 11 February.

Survey said that 16 percent of Filipinos wanted to become more practical and receive cash as their gift wish for Valentine's Day. About 10 percent said they prefer to receive flowers. Some 11 percent did admit that they desire "love and companionship."

The same SWS survey said the number of people who have no love life has gradually increased through the years. The survey had only 1,200 respondents.

More men wished for apparel, while more women wished for money.

Around 58 percent of respondents also said they are very happy with their love life; 23 percent admitted they could be happier; while 19 percent have no love life at all.

SWS also noted that the percentage of people who are not in a romantic setup has gradually increased through the years, from 10 percent in 2002 to 19 percent in 2023.

But how did Pinoys carry on this love day? It was traditionally meant for going out but which happened to be Ash Wednesday this (Lunar) Year of the Wood Dragon?

A Facebook survey was conducted by a social news media organization Rappler starting 5 January. By 10 February, the company noted that 981 participants said they would abstain from going out and eating meat today. They signified this intention by ticking the "care emoji." Only 59 of the news site's followers on FB said they would be with their jowa (romantic partner).

Inexpensive

The movies are the most inexpensive way to be together these days. If someone is paying for the tickets for two, that would be P800. Imagine how many kilos of rice it would buy! But then again, daters have to go dine somewhere after watching a movie. An unfanciful dinner at, say Max's or WingZone, may cost another P800.

Well, that's how life goes these days. And the truth is even movie producers are not keen about showing their films in the movie houses. They would rather show their outputs on the streaming platforms. They get a definite sum for it, though their film is locked with the platform owners for a few months, after which they can offer the film to another platform operator.

That's what Viva Communications, Inc. did with Nadine Lustre's action film Road Killers. The company let Prime Video Philippines to stream the movie starting November last year. Next month (March), they'll stream it on Viva One.

There really are more movies offered in the digital platforms than in the cineplexes. For instance, aside from Viva One, the Del Rosarios also own and run Vivamax, which specializes in films with the most daring sex scenes.

Those who are not hot for Enrique Gil's denial of being Big Bird (the fictitious porno king of Thailand), at least two Hollywood movies are on offer.