Have we lost that lovin' feeling?

Pinoys take pride in being good lovers. But if recent studies are to be believed, we've lost that lovin' feeling, baby!

SWS says 7 out of 10 (71%) adult Filipinos would choose a lifetime partner who loves him/her more, while 28% would choose a lifetime partner whom he/she loves more. That preference was dominant in all areas and classes. Well, that may not exactly show diminishing capacity to love, us Filipinos may just be a pampered lot.

The NSCB compiled love related statistics that show that between 1980 and 2000, the proportion of married persons has dropped by about 5 percentage points. On the other hand the number of divorced/separated has doubled over the same time period. And the proportion of women who are no longer living together or are separated, has almost doubled between 1993 and 2008.

All this may data point to the Filipinos losing their traditional institutions like marriage and family. As to the Pinoys capacity to love, that is stronger than ever. In fact, what the stats do not show is that Pinoys all out of love only to rebound quickly and fall in love again. That is why tax authorities will run after motels and restaurants this Valentine’s Day.

Love formula worked for me

A mathematical formula devised by an Australian mathematician predicts the time to fall in love. The equation called the "Fiancee Formula" was created by Professor Tony Dooley works by factoring in the age at which you start looking for a spouse and the absolute oldest age you would consider getting married.

"Applying maths to matters of the heart is always a dangerous prospect. In human life when you're dealing with emotions you have to think much harder," the professor said. "But if you want to work out the right moment to start getting serious, this actually gives you a mathematical framework to think about it." He claims a success rate of almost 40 per cent.

The formula goes as follows:

1. Choose the oldest age by which you want to get married, for example, 39. Call this 'n'.

2. Decide the earliest age at which you'll start to consider a potential spouse, for example, 20. This age becomes 'p'.

3. Subtract 'p' from 'n' (39 - 20), then multiply the result by 0.368. This equals 6.992.

4. Add this to your minimum age.

This formula worked for me almost to the day. In my younger years I thought I should not reach 40 before getting married, so my 'n' was 39. At 29, I realized that the lady who's now my wife is the really the one for me. My 'p' is 29. Subtracting 'p' from 'n' gives 10. Multiply this by 0.368, the result is 3.68. Add this to 29, equals 32.68. Going by the formula my wedding should have been 8 months and 4.8 days after my birthday 32nd. I got married 5 days early.