I've heard more than one of you complain "But she's always text messaging on her cell phone"....well, this one's for you, enjoy.

Survey: Filipinos Most Loving Cell Users
Wed Feb 5, 9:02 AM ET  Associated Press  

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos are the most "romantically expressive" in the region when using mobile phone messages, according to a recent survey commissioned by a mobile phone manufacturer.

Filipinos topped others in Southeast Asia and India in sending romantic text messages, with 58 percent of 288 respondents saying they sent "I love you" messages through short messaging service or SMS, manufacturer Siemens said.

The Siemens Mobile Lifestyle Survey was conducted by research firm Asia Market Intelligence, which interviewed 1,400 respondents from Indonesia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The survey was completed in December and covered both sexes aged 15-29. The results were released Wednesday in Manila, and no margin of error was given.

The questions included "Do you send personalized tones and logos to your partners?" and "Do you flirt with people you haven't met over the phone?"

Following the Philippines in the "most expressive in love" category is Indonesia, with 41 percent of respondents disclosing they say "I love you" via text messages. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India ranked third through sixth in that category.

Filipinos and Indonesians also topped the list of those preferring to break up via text messaging. More Thais — 48 percent — said their hearts beat faster at the sound of incoming text messages.

The Philippines has been called the texting capital of the world. Filipinos used text messages to marshal protesters during the 2001 peaceful revolt that drove former President Joseph Estrada (news - web sites) from power over corruption charges.

According to the Finnish Embassy, the Finland-based cellphone firm Nokia (news - web sites) in 2002 estimated that there were about 10 million cell phones in the Philippines, transmitting about 100 million text messages a day.

While the number of cell phones is not large by international standards, the number of text messages sent by subscribers is double the world average, it said.