MisOcc town workers wear colors suggestive of their love lives

ILIGAN CITY -- The red color was visibly the dominant color at the City Hall of Oroquieta City in Misamis Occidental Wednesday in response to the memorandum of Mayor Lemuel Meyrick Acosta suspending the wearing of office uniforms starting February 12 up to 14, Valentine's Day.

Dated February 4, Acosta's memorandum suspended the wearing of office uniform "to spruce-up the celebration commemorating the heart's month or the Feast of St. Valentine otherwise known as Valentine's Day."

Instead, City Hall employees were told to wear "the corresponding colors to express their current state, feeling or status in life."

In the memorandum are drawings of hearts with different colors indicating the status of one's love life: Red -- in love and or in a relationship; Blue -- single; Yellow -- complicated; Black - love life is boring or without love life; Pink -- dating someone; White -- broken-hearted, or "ghosted like Bea," referring to actress Bea Alonzo whose break-up with boyfriend Gerald Anderson, became controversial.

In a phone interview, Acosta said, his team came up with the idea as a "change of environment in the City Hall" and to allow the employees to observe Valentine's Day in a different way.

"For a change, my team came up with different "gimik" for Valentine's Day -- an activity which we are not used to do. I said 'why not', this is just for fun anyway... We do it while we continue serving our constituents," the mayor said.

Asked which color he would for three days at work, Acosta-- who has been married for 12 years with a 5-year old son--answered: "Of course red!"

"On the lighter side, everyone was excited to see what color the employees are wearing, especially those who are not that open of their love life. As expected there was teasing and it was fun," he said. (PNA)