Courtship

Courtship in the Spanish Era 100218

In every town in the Philippines, whenever there is a church, there is always a plaza nearby.  And inside that plaza, there is always a fountain.  Nowadays, it is a big question whether such fountain is still working, but during the Spanish colonial times, that fountain served as a venue for a daily promenade for men and women of marriageable age.

Every afternoon, usually from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, young women of marriageable age walk around the fountain in a clockwise direction while men walk around the fountain in a counter-clockwise direction.  This affair is strictly regulated by the priest of the nearby church.  And any men or women who deviate from this routine are punished by being banned from the promenade (temporarily) or expelled (permanently) immediately.

For decades and centuries of Spanish colonization, such was the way where men and women of marriageable age greet and meet one another.

If one were to fast forward the hands of time, one could pose a silly question whether such a promenade still occur in the current day Philippines?  And though there is no longer a fixed promenade of men and women walking and circling the fountain inside the plaza and in front of the church.  Current Filipino men and women still walk (as if in a promenade) in a mall.

In every town or municipality where there is a mall, Filipino men and women strut their way to meet, to greet, and find temporary or long-lasting connections or affairs.

The venue may have changed, but the need to socialized is still there, regardless whether it was during the Spanish colonial times or in the age Duterte and his tokhang.