Panliligaw tip: Grand gestures of love may be the key to her heart

"Uso pa ba ang harana?"

OPM band Parokya ni Edgar sang these words way back in 1997. Almost 20 years later, the question still resonates as not many men today can sing to their special someone in public.

But for college student Rash Mejorada, serenading the apple of his eye is no big deal in this age of YouTube and Spotify. One day, he surprised Janzen Saliente—the girl he has been courting for three years—with a song number complete with a bouquet of flowers right in the middle of the street near their university.

The sweet gesture was captured on video, uploaded to Facebook (where it has gone viral with more than 28,000 likes, 10,000 shares, and 546,000 views), ended up on TV—and made thousands squeal with kilig.



Given the public's surprise and overwhelming reaction to Rash's harana to Janzen as well as to Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera's engagement announcement on TV and John Prats' flash mob wedding proposal to Isabel Oli, one may ask: Are these grand gestures of love no longer the norm?

According to Dano Tingcungco's report on GMA News TV's "Balitanghali" on Monday, courtship these days can be easily done through exchanges of text messages and online chats. Hence, the harana and other grand ways to show one's love to another are commonly overlooked.

A relationship expert also said that the process of courtship has been cut short over the years. All thanks to social media, which is a means for two strangers to get to know each other better.

But remember, social media and other forms of communication are just tools. At the end of the day, nothing beats face-to-face conversations in gauging someone's intentions and character.

So, get up and get to work. Who knows? The one your heart is beating for might prefer someone who shows his love instead of just texting it. — Trisha Macas/BM, GMA News