Dad From Quezon City Surprises His Daughters: 'I'm Their First Valentine'

Amid the inspiring love stories and photos of chocolates and flowers that dominated our social media feeds yesterday, February 14, a father’s post on Facebook immediately caught our attention. Chi Martillo, a media services section head at the House of Representatives, shared snapshots of the sweet surprise he and his wife, Au, put together for their three daughters.

In a quick chat with SmartParenting.com.ph, Chi revealed this wasn’t the first time they surprised the girls. “My wife figured it would be best for them to experience the thrill of receiving gifts from their Dad, their first Valentine, so they would not be easily impressed by gifts from other boys when the ‘right’ time comes. It’ll somehow help them focus on their character,” he shares.

To pull off the Valentine’s Day surprise, Au ordered three boxes of Ecuadorian roses while Chi wrote personalized messages that were attached to each. “I wrote the messages for each of them, bearing in mind their own individual characters. Then we surprised them in school. The eldest, Nikki, actually surprised us. She was behind me as soon as we went up the floor where her sisters’ classrooms are. She saw what we brought for them. The two others cried when they saw what I had for them and hugged me as you can see in the pictures,” Chi recalls.

In the personalized notecards, Chi mentioned how proud they are as parents seeing how each young lady is growing up to be loving, compassionate, and hardworking servant of God. When asked if he has words of wisdom he’d love to share with fellow parents, Chi says, “It doesn’t take a super dad or a super mom to make our kids happy. Every one of us has the capacity to make them feel special. I guess we just have to prioritize them and their happiness every once in a while. And they will treasure this for a lifetime.

As for the future and would-be suitors of his three daughters? “Beat that,” he says with a laugh. “No, I guess they have to love them as much, if not, more than I do. And that’s not a condition but an order,” adds Chi.