WHAT GULLAS ORDERS FOR FEB. 14. In a memorandum order -- #055-2022 dated February 10 and titled Love Month 2022 -- Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony "Samasam" Gullas Jr. said that all employees and job-order workers of the City Government are required to follow a dress color code this Monday, February 14.
Although there's no penalty provided in the memo, the workers must assume that it will be to their discredit if they ignore the order and "pogi" points for them if they do. The M.O. also carries the request to "cause the widest dissemination for everybody's information" and the wish for a "colorful, enjoyable Valentine's Day celebration."
DRESS COLOR TELLS ON LOVE STATUS. The group activity requires members of the community -- in this case, the workforce of the Talisay City Government -- to tell their fellow members and the public that sees them on that day -- about their individual love lives.
In Mayor Samsam's M.O., these colors disclose the love status of the wearer:
[1] Red - Taken and in love.
[2] Yellow - It's complicated.
[3] Orange - Prisoner to one's love.
[4] Green - Single and ready.
[5] Pink - Me time, not yet ready.
[6] Grey - The one that got away.
[7] Black - "Manhid."
DOES IT VIOLATE PRIVACY? Most probably not, as the mayor's order (a) does not compel, (b) there's no penalty and (c) one can hide the state of one's love life by not wearing one's true color. An official or employee at Talisay City Hall may wear red even if one does not have a lover or a suitor or one is not in love with the person he or she is currently dating.
Besides, many people, especially women, wear red on Valentine's Day, to tell the world they're in love. Social media posts on or around that day will be in torrents, indicating that many people are not shy about being in a relationship, although scarcely seen is the lament about being loveless. These days when many people flaunt their sentiment on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, an order from the mayor to display it at City Hall through a dress color code most likely won't invite controversy.
WHO DID IT BEFORE. The list includes:
[] Personnel of Quezon City General Services who adopted in 2019 a Valentine's Day dress color code.
[] Naga City Mayor John Bongat who ordered in 2018 a dress code for City Hall officers and employees.
[] Palawan State University that issued a memorandum in 2020 to its students although it was not an order (they were "allowed").
[] San Beda student council in Alabang that encouraged students in 2018 "to wear the colors assigned to their love status."
The idea for Mayor Samsam's Valentine activity is not original but in Cebu, he may be the first local chief executive to show zest for fun amid the pandemic and the post-typhoon distress. There must be some other mayor or governor out there who's also doing it but that initiative just hasn't been as widely publicized as the Talisay mayor's.
LOVE STATUS DESCRIPTIONS. A large part of the fun rests on the meaning given to the color and the public that sees it knows its meaning.
Knowledge of the meaning is important. Pink in Talisay, for example, means "Me time, not yet ready" but in other places, pink means "Strike anywhere, no strings attached." Talisay's green means "single and ready" while elsewhere, it means "Finding it hard to move on." Black in Talisay is "Manhid" (or Numb) while in Naga City, black means "Taken for granted" and elsewhere it means a protest against the Valentine hoopla or signifies the woman's loathing of her lover.
There are also colors for some status reports that are not in Mayor Samsam's memo, such as white for "Like a virgin"; purple, for "Single but contented"; and brown for "Pusong Bato."
Co-employees and the public will get the message from the dress if they get the right meaning attached to it.
POLITICS IN DRESS CODE. Rivals of Mayor Gullas might see politics in the meaning attached to some colors.
Broadcaster Eric S. Manait of dyCM noted that the meaning assigned to pink by Mayor Samsam is "Me time, not yet ready." Pink has been associated with the Robredo-for-president camp and Leni not being ready for the job of chief executive of the country has been hammered on her by critics, including, notably, President Rodrigo Duterte. Mayor Samsam told broadcaster Jason Monteclar last week that the Gullases support Bongbong Marcos. Would Talisay's assignment of "not being ready" to pink have any political, ah, color?
Yellow, Liberal Party color, has also a Talisay meaning that may not be flattering to candidates linked to the Aquinos' "Dilawan." Yellow in Talisay means, "It's complicated" or many parts or aspects of it make the love life difficult to deal with or understand.
