By Herbert Vego
TODAY, February 14, is the day when couples – whether married or not — exchange love notes, whisper sweet nothings and go out for lunch, dinner or a romantic tryst. It’s Valentine’s Day, starring the legendary boy Cupid. Armed with a bow and arrow, he aims at a man and a woman and pierces through two hearts at once. His victims thus fall in love.
History traces the original Saint Valentine — patron saint of lovers — as a 3rd Century Roman Catholic priest.
However, because of his identification with fornication, the Church removed him from its roster of saints.
It was also because Valentine’s Day is a takeoff from a pagan celebration in the third century, the Lupercalia, that Romans celebrated this feast in the hope of driving hordes of hungry wolves away from their flocks of sheep.
During Lupercalia, celebrated in honor of the goddess Juno Februata, young women put their names into a box, to be drawn by men. The matching boys and girls would be considered partners for the year.
To win converts, church officials Christianized the Lupercalia, changing its name to St. Valentine’s Day in honor of Valentine, a priest who officiated most marriages in Rome.
To give the celebration further meaning and eliminate pagan traditions, the priests substituted the names of the girls with those of the saints so that the young people would emulate the lives of the saints whose names they had drawn.
In the fourteenth century, however, they reverted back to the use of girls’ names.
The drawing of names on St. Valentine’s Day has survived in England and neighboring places. When a boy draws a girl’s name, he pins it on his sleeve and pays her special attention. This makes the girl his valentine throughout the year.
In the United States today, Valentine’s Day parties include a “raffle of hearts.” The “hearts” are heart-shaped red cardboards cut by half in jigsaw pattern and distributed to single young men and women. Each “half-hearted” male recipient looks for the other half and inevitably finds it in the hand of a female recipient, who then becomes his Valentine for one day – or more, should they fall in love.
-oOo-
IT’S ALSO MORE POWER DAY
TODAY may also be known as MORE Power Day to mark the 6th anniversary of the law (RA 11212) granting MORE Power and Electric and Power Corporation its 25-year franchise.
To be specific, it was on a Valentines’ Day (Feb. 14, 2019) when then President Rodrigo Duterte signed that law.
In that leap year, however, MORE Power could not immediately kick off because its outgoing predecessor, Panay Electric Co. (PECO) had questioned the legality of the expropriation of its facilities. And so, it was not until one more year later on February 29, 2020 (a leap year) when MORE Power started energizing the city based on a writ of possession issued by the Regional Trial Court.
By then, the company had fully prepared for the takeover, having absorbed more than 50 individuals of PECO’s technical personnel.
Mayor Jerry Treñas welcomed the utility as “our great partner in creating a sustainable city.”
From 62,000 households in 2020, MORE Power’s customers have grown to more than 100,000 today — a span of five years. Thanks to the able leadership of President Roel Castro, whose track record includes over 20 years at the helm of nine other power companies.
Another law enacted in August 2022, Republic Act (RA) 11918, expanded the power distribution of MORE Power to Passi City and the towns of Alimodian, Leganes, Leon, Pavia, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Barotac Nuevo, Dingle, Duenas, Dumangas, New Lucena, San Enrique, Zarraga, Anilao and Banate.
The legality of the firm’s competition with Iloilo Electric Cooperative (ILECO) has been upheld legal by the Supreme court based on the principle that exclusive franchises are allowed to improve services and lower electricity rates.
More power to MORE Power!
