A SURVEY revealed that romantic relationships are taken seriously by Dabawenyos, as 77 percent of those who are in a relationship already decided to spend the rest of their lives with their current partner.
In a survey by the University of Mindanao-Institute of Popular Opinion (UM-IPO), they surveyed a total of 1,200 Dabawenyos and came up with the state of their love affairs. The respondents are between 18 to 70 years old, with the majority of them within the 21 to 40 years old age range.
The survey, tagged as "Together and Forever: A Love Survey," revealed that for every 100 Dabawenyos, 59 are currently in a relationship. Out of this number, 29 are females, 28 are males, and the other two are members of the LGBT community.
More than half of those surveyed married, followed by 22 percent who are already living together and 19 percent who are unwed.
About 77 percent of those in a relationship would already want to marry or see themselves growing old with their current partner. About 17 percent are not yet decided whether they would want to spend the rest of their lives with their current partner or not. However, about six percent said they are just currently "diddling around waiting for the right person" and that their current partner is not yet "the one."
The survey also revealed that majority or about 39 percent of those who are currently in a relationship are already dating their partner for one to five years, about 17 percent are dating for six to 10 years, and about 11 percent are already together for 11 to 15 years.
Only about four percent of the survey respondents are dating for less than a year only.
UM-IPO director for quantitative studies Adrian Tamayo said the results of the survey show just how Dabawenyos put much value on romantic relationships and that they take it seriously.