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Birthday celebration

Arianne Kim Colle

Patricia Nicole Caasi

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/a-n-v-e-s-h-cxKUnnwkWyk-unsplash.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Anvesh/Unsplash </em></span></span></span></div><ul><li id="isPasted" style="margin:0px;line-height:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span id="isPasted" style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Surrounded by her family, Patricia Lantin on Thursday marked her rare February 29 birthday, a Leap Day that appears in calendars once roughly every four years. </span></span></li></ul><ul id="isPasted"><li><span id="isPasted" style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">On non-Leap Years, Lantin would usually celebrate her birthday on either February 28 or March 1. </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“I like to celebrate it on Feb 28 ‘cause I still wanna embrace being a February baby. But sometimes, me and my fam celebrate it on March 1 ‘cause that’s when I officially become a year older,” said the Gen Z-er “leapling” or person born on Feb. 29. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:12pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Internally, I get more fulfilled every time there’s a February 29 ‘cause it means I really deserve to celebrate and to be celebrated,” Lantin added.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.7999999999999998;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:9pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Leap years occur every 4 years, except century years or those ending in double zeros like 1900 or 2100. But there is an exception to this exception: century years that can be divided by 4 such as 2000 and 1600, according to a </span> <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE81Q245/"></a><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE81Q245/">Reuters report</a>.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.7999999999999998;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:9pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">J</span><span style="color:rgb(64, 64, 64);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">ulius Caesar instituted the leap year system in about 44 BC to correct a defect in the calendar that would put the seasons out of sync, the report added. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Various studies say there are only about 5 million people whose birthday falls on leap day.  </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span><strong></strong><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2024/2/26/list-promos-for-leap-year-february-29-2024-1843">LIST: Promos for leap year, February 29, 2024</a></span></div></span></li><li><span id="isPasted" style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><div dir="ltr"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong><br/></strong></span></div></span></li><li><span id="isPasted" style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><div dir="ltr"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>LEAPLINGS’ CHALLENGES </strong></span></div><span style="color:rgb(32, 33, 36);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Septuagenarian </span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">leapling Elisa Colle said an unfair superstition surrounding leaplings is that they are dull-witted supposedly because their birthday is often absent in the calendar.</span></span></li><li><span id="isPasted" style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">  </span> <br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The retired seamstress said that while she no longer pays heed to this </span><span style="color:rgb(32, 33, 36);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">mischaracterization</span><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, there was once a time when she avoided telling other people that her birthday falls on February  29. </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Di ko na masyado ‘yan pinapansin mga sabi-sabi,” Colle said. </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Meanwhile, Lantin said she was often told her birthday is connected with luck. </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Some say it&#x27;s ‘malas.’ Others say it&#x27;s lucky being a leap year baby,” she said.</span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Meanwhile, Colle said her parents decided to register her birth date as 26th of February to avoid complications with official documents. </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Another leapling, Benson Cariñaga said his birthday has not caused him any logistical difficulty with official documents.  </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Maayos naman dito pagdating sa mga documents. Sa edad lang kasi ‘di naman namin pwede ilagay kung ilang beses pa lang kami mag-birthday kundi yung taon-taon talaga,” he said. </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>EXTRA SPECIAL DAY </strong></span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Cariñaga said he would celebrate his birthday through a gift-giving in his community. The millennial teacher said he wishes that leaplings could have a chance to gather and seize their special day.</span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Colle said leap years make her birthday extra special compared to ordinary years when it does not appear in the calendar.</span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ako tinitingnan ko na lang na parang nakakapagpabawas ng edad ko kasi matanda na ako eh pero kung bibilangin mo lang ang totoong birthday ko eh bata pa ako kung ganoon,” Colle said. </span></div><br/><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“I still love it kasi kahit na di naman siya every year dumadating, yun pa rin yung totoo kong kapanganakan,” she added.</span></div></span></li></ul><div><br/></div>

<p>"Leaplings" or people born on February 29 are celebrating their rare birthday today.</p>

"Leaplings" or people born on February 29 are celebrating their rare birthday today.

Four-year wait: How leaplings celebrate their Feb. 29 birthday

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Four-year wait: How leaplings celebrate their Feb. 29 birthday

Arianne Kim Colle,

Patricia Nicole Caasi

Published Feb 29, 2024 02:19 PM PHT

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Updated Feb 29, 2024 02:23 PM PHT

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