Filipino romanticism captures the essence of these and provides the foundation for the Filipino’s paradoxical and contradictory character. It explains his inclination to die for a noble cause, like a revolution, and to kill for a senseless cause, like someone’s refusal to accept his offer of a drink, from a simple argument over a basketball game, a resented stare, or bad singing in a karaoke. It explains his submission to the Church and his denigration of priests. It explains the driver making the sign of the cross before starting his jeepney and cursing the traffic policeman. It explains his keeping his backyard clean and throwing his garbage in the street. It explains corruption in the government, kidnapping, all forms of thievery, and even the outbreak of diseases and the annual floods in the country.

Pilipino lover his code machismo and respect to women, in that order, but he will forget the second if the first is threatened, even if he has to beat his wife or abandon her. Then he will send flowers, Valentine’s Day or not, as sign of his repentance. Such gesture endears him to her and, battered as she is, she will refuse to file charges against him because of “love.” She is a victim and slave but seeing him around is heaven enough for her. Hardly is there any effective sanction against the violence of his machismo. “Men are traditionally perceived as superior to women and thus are at liberty to batter their wives. Neighbors do not interfere. Police are reluctant to step in even families’ are apt to offer little support for the victim,” the Filipino lover thinks that with his uncanny knowledge of the human psyche, he knows better than anyone how to take care of women. He may appear awkward, or stupid, or ill-at-ease, but this is, actually, a technique. At the same time, he has mastered the skills of disguises, of linguistic concealment and of double talk and, sometimes, of mathematics. These enable him to maintain a wife and three mistresses living in perfect ignorance of each other. Soon, of course, he is found out, but he has enough wiles and lies to extricate himself from the tangle of troubles with little damage to his ego.

From the Filipino lover’s adventures have merged timely aphorisms such as: “if you must love me. Love many and all the way”; “show that she is the only woman in your life, even if you have to leave your wife to prove it”, “Don’t give her money. Money spoils romance”, and, “I am poor but all I have is yours.” In these rare instances when he admits defeat- as when his roses and chocolates are returned and his mistress burns his house- it is Romanticism that softens the blow. He takes refuge in his imagination, the castle in which he licks his wound and regains his strength. Since amor vincit omnia, he feels secure in the thought that his next sally will be productive. After all, his crusade is to bring happiness to women, which often than not, a man whose marriage to a domineering wife leads to turned him into proverbial “ander de saya.”