Many Filipino couples are big on public displays of affection, but two high school students from Tandag City, in Surigao del Sur province, kicked it up a notch when they spent PHP10,000 (US$196) — roughly equivalent to 70 bajillion dollars in teenager money — for a party to celebrate their one-year anniversary as boyfriend and girlfriend.
Eighteen-year-olds Shaina Mae Quizada and her boyfriend, Prince Gabriel Pedrosa — known by their portmanteau “Shairiel” — celebrated their anniversary yesterday in the company of family and friends with a sumptuous meal of lechon, ice cream, and lumpiang shanghai.
Quizada posted photos of the party on Facebook showing a gargantuan banner with the words “Shariel Happy 1st Anniversary” printed on it. In her caption, she wrote: “12 months of loving. #SHAIRIEL.”
Netizens, meanwhile, were both amused and flabbergasted that a couple of kids would actually throw a party to celebrate being together for a year — so bemused and flabbergasted, in fact, that Quizada’s post has since been shared almost 44,000 times.
Read: Beautiful photos showing couple’s simple wedding warm netizens’ hearts
In an interview with Coconuts Manila on Facebook Messenger, Quizada said that celebrating simple things was something she and her boyfriend often do, so it was a no-brainer that they would throw a party for their anniversary. To raise money for the shindig, she and Pedrosa sold cheese sticks at school, where they first met.
“I added him on Facebook because he’s a dancer in school but he’s the one who messaged me first,” she recalled.
Since then, they’ve been inseparable. “We eat outside or spend time together. We also do school projects together,” she said.
But as earnest as Quizada and Pedrosa may have been in celebrating their relationship milestone, many netizens were just as sarcastic, mocking the couple for throwing a bash to celebrate something which, to many, is considered a trivial event.
But Quizada said she has chosen to ignore the Negative Nellies.
“Maybe they think it’s funny because this might be the first time that they have encountered a couple who celebrated their first anniversary with a party that had so much food. But they don’t bother me because everyone has the freedom to express their own opinion.”
Have you seen other couples celebrate their anniversary in a unique way? Tell us by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
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