Uso Pa Ba? This Man Used Snail Mail To Win The Heart Of Future Wife

This is not quite the traditional Filipino courtship wherein a man would serve in the household of a woman or serenade her to be his girlfriend. But it’s still old school.

Nine years ago, Marianito “Jun” Dio Jr. wrote a letter to the parents of Jas Billedo, asking for permission to court her. The two were college friends at De La Salle Lipa in Batangas at the time.

Jun, now a lawyer and professor, sent the letter through Jas’ sister even if back then, communication had become easy through the internet and cellular phones.

“Wala akong kaalam-alam na nagpadala siya ng sulat. Bigla na lang sinabi ng parents ko na may manliligaw ka pala, sumulat sa ’min. That’s how nila nakilala si Jun nung nanliligaw sa ’kin (I had no idea that he sent a letter. My parents just told me that I had a suitor who wrote them. That’s how they knew Jun when he was courting me),” Jas told The Philippine STAR.

After that, the letters that Jun wrote were already addressed to Jas.

 “I remember, nanligaw siya sa akin nagsi-send ’yan ng mga (he courted me by sending) snail mails,” Jas recalled. ’Yung sulat minsan ang nakalagay lang doon, ‘Pwede ka bang makita sa ganitong araw? ’Yun na ’yung way niya ng pag-a-ask ng (Sometimes, the letter would just say, ‘Can I see you on this day? That was his way of asking me for a) date.”

 “Gumagawa siya ng mga tula (He would compose poems) for me, tanaga,” she also said.

 Jun had to wait for six months before capturing the heart of Jas, who fell for his way of wooing her.

 “He is very poetic, sobra, as in napakalalim na tao kasi niyan si Jun (Jun is a very deep person), parehas din kaming (we’re also both) old schooI,” Jas said. “I would wait for one to weeks before I could read his letters…Very poetic, he is very into arts.”

 According to Jas, the letters of Jun are now part of the treasures that she keeps. Some of them were handed to her personally by her fiancé even when they were already together.

 How? Jas remembers Jun appearing on the bus that she took on her way home to Batangas from Manila where she works, and give her his letter.

 “Parang tye-tyempohan lang daw niya ako dahil hindi naman siya nagte-text. Biglang na lang makikita ko papasok sa bus then parang may hinahanap then makikita niya ako then may iaabot na sulat (He said he would just wait for me because he would not text. Then I would see him getting into the bus as if looking for someone and then he would hand me the letter),” Jas disclosed.

 Fast forward to 2020.

Many events, including weddings, have been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. But Jun took the courage to push trough with his plan to propose to Jas on June 21 following the government’s easing of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.

They were already 101 months into the relationship.

And like the way he courted Jas, Jun’s proposal was not ordinary.

He found the perfect timing to ask Jas to marry her during the summer solstice and the annular solar eclipse.

Jun explained that he chose this setting for his proposal because they both love the night sky and he is into astrophotography. They love to shoot under the Milky Way, he said, adding he started planning the proposal last year. The quarantine period provided him more free time to prepare and pursue it.

“It should have been on our 100th month last (May), but quarantine rules were stricter so I did not push through with it,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino. Jun started courting Jas in July 2011 and she agreed to be his girlfriend on Jan. 23, 2012.

But the uncertainties brought about by the pandemic only made him certain about the things he really wanted to do.

“Wala lang, gusto ko lang gawin ’yung mga bagay na gusto ko nang gawin. (Nothing, I just want to do the things that I already want to do.) That made me decide to propose. So sabi ko (I said), once the lockdown is lifted, I will go for it,” he said.

Jun planned everything to achieve the setting, but admitted that he didn’t have any Plan B if the skies would not cooperate. 

“Pwede mong planuhin lahat pero at the end of the day kailangan pagbigyan ka pa rin ng langit,” Jun stressed. "Umasa na lang ako na hindi maulap nun kahit weather forecasts said 66 percent cloud cover nung oras na ’yun. And wala akong Plan B so sabi ko, itutuloy ko kahit pa overcast o umulan. Bahala na.”

Jun recounted that he prayed for the Milky Way to appear so he could finally pop the question, whatever its orientation. The Milky Way is a large barred spiral galaxy – large group of stars, gas and dust bound together by gravity – which comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. The sun and all the stars that people see at night are in Milky Way galaxy, which appears as a milky band of light in the sky in a really dark area.

“I prayed please ‘pag nakita ko na ulit ‘yung Milky Way itatanong ko na siya. Kahit ano’ng orientation nung Milky Way," Jun said.

On the day of the proposal, Jun was scheduled to meet his girlfriend, but Jas had to run some errands in Cavite.

Jas said she never thought that Jun would propose on that day because after going to Cavite, they were to meet with friends to watch the annular solar eclipse.

At around midnight, the couple went to Kapusod, Mataas na Kahoy in Batangas, which is located near Taal lake and across Taal volcano, to set up the camera for the summer solstice that would occur on June 21. Jas admitted feeling so sleepy at the time.

“Dun sa spot na napili niya, merong part ng frame na nahahagip na sako sa tabing lawa. So siya, lumusong siya sa tubig para buhatin ’yung tatlong sako at tanggalin dun sa frame,” she said.

The couple then patiently waited for the astronomical phenomenon. Jas said hours before the proposal, she still did not have any hint of what was about to happen that night.

When the skies lit up with stars at around 1 a.m., Jun took it as the perfect time to propose. In the starlight, all that Jas could see was Jun’s face. Jun asked her if she wanted to be with him forever. He gave her 30 seconds to respond as he knelt before her.

“Ang malinaw lang ay ’yung light ng stars and then madilim ’yung background and then ’yung mukha niya, ’yun lang ’yung nakikita ko. Sabi niya, ‘Jas, may tatlumpung segundo ka para sagutin ’yung itatanong ko.’ Tapos sabi niya ‘Jas, sasamahan mo ba ako hanggang huli? And then lumuhod siya,” she narrated.

Jas conceded that at first, she was shocked and taught that it was a prank. As she began crying, Jun stood up and she hugged him, whispering that she would be with him every day, to the end.

“Natigilan talaga ako, tapos ang sabi ko, prank ba ito? Kasi hindi ako makapaniwala na tinatanong niya ako nung moment na ’yun. After nun I was crying na…Then tumayo na siya, niyakap ko siya… bumulong ako sa tenga niya. Sinabi ko, ‘Oo, araw-araw, hanggang huli,’ ” she said.

Personalized engagement ring

The day before the proposal, Jun visited Jas’ parents to inform them that he would be proposing to their daughter.

Instead of buying an expensive engagement ring, Jun decided to create a handmade wooden ring, which he said is special and priceless, being without a price tag.

“Ako kasi hindi ako fan ng mga binibili na may price tag. Mas gusto ko ’yung priceless siya, espesyal,” he said.

 It took him almost 12 hours to finish the wooden ring.

 “Meron din akong pagtatanaw na ang pag-ibig ay organic. Para sa ’kin ang pag-ibig ay nabubulok at dapat itong mabulok at umikot para pakinabangan ng iba pang buhay sa daigdig,” Jun, who works as a lawyer at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Region 4-A office, said.

 He carved the word “pag-ibig” or love in baybayin or the old writing system of the Tagalog language when he finished the ring.

 Jas said she had expected the proposal to happen last year, but it did not. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she thought it would be impossible for her boyfriend to propose this year.

 Still, things fell into place for them. Jas described Jun as “one in a million” and that she had been thinking how it became possible for them to meet and get close to become a partner. “I never imagined that we would be this close and ‘yun nga na magiging partner ko siya. And now, future husband.” 

The lovebirds are planning to hold their wedding in Batangas this December.