Filipinos are known to have a spirit for huge gatherings and celebrations, like turning every fiesta, anniversaries, and most especially, birthday celebrations into big “salu-salo” attended by friends and family.

For three months now, gatherings and celebrations haven’t been allowed, so birthday celebrators were driven to spend their special day inside their homes. They only had their family members as guests and nothing but delivery food or home-cooked meals on their tables.

But this family living in a Suntrust condominium in Manila, finds the lockdown period a way to celebrate birthdays within their family in a new yet more intimate way.

Glady Tacurda, a teacher and a mother of two, expresses her delight when two of her children celebrated each of their birthdays at home during the quarantine.

Sharmaine, Glady’s daughter, marked her 26th birthday on April 20 while her younger brother Vince turned 20 on March 26. With a simple celebration at home, they prepared meals and their own version of Korean BBQ. This is an absolute opposite of how they have celebrated the previous year, when they invited a lot of visitors, held a party, and even had catering service.

“Last year we had a lot of visitors, but now, due to COVID19, we decided to have just a small gathering, just within the family circle. I really didn’t allow any visitors to ensure safety,” shared Glady.

The 50-year old mom believes that this year’s birthday celebrations of her children may be way different from last year, but it helped them see the bigger picture—the importance of quality time with family.

“They were happy with the simplicity of our celebration as they also understand the situation. They said what’s more important is our safety and togetherness,” said the mother of two. 

She also commends the splendid response of the condominium’s property management during the lockdown.

“They care for us and are very friendly, so we are really thankful for them for keeping us and our community safe”, she added, complimenting the condominium community’s efforts to help fight COVID19.

Special thanks to:

Jayson Tagalog SDH - Supergiant Division