WHEN the casting for the series I Love You Since 1892— a Wattpad classic— was announced, social media lit up with strong reactions. 

Fans who had followed the story since its Wattpad days were quick to express disappointment over the casting of Heaven Peralejo and Jerome Ponce as Carmela and Juanito, especially since Janella Salvador and Marlo Mortel had long been expected to play the roles—an expectation reinforced by their appearance on an official book cover.

To an outsider, it might just seem like another case of fandom drama. But for those who followed the novel through its many serialized chapters and sequel, this wasn’t just another case of celebrity preference. They wanted the series to remain true to the story. 

So when the lead cast admitted that they haven’t read the series at all, the disappointment grew stronger, alienating a fanbase deeply attached— not to the celebrities— but to the story’s characters and lore. 

Yet, what this uproar reveals isn’t just frustration. It was the passion of Filipino readers to a story they love very much. 

The Common Accusation

It’s a familiar complaint— often delivered with a shake of the head: “Mga bata ngayon, ‘di na nagbabasa.”

It doesn’t help that data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show the Philippines lagging behind in several basic literacy skills—reading comprehension among them.

In 2023, the PISA result showed that the Philippines ranked 76th out of 81 countries when it comes to reading comprehension. It shows a 4.3 percent decline in proficiency level. 

Yet while the PISA results give us numbers to work with, they should not be treated as the absolute measure of a nation’s reading culture. 

Standardized tests like PISA often operate within a narrow framework, one that fails to capture the complexity of how reading and learning happen in the Philippine context. 

It places value on specific forms of literacy—often aligned with Western educational models—while overlooking others, such as inquiry-based learning or oral traditions that remain central in many Filipino communities.

The framing alone can skew results. Many educators have pointed out that the language of the exam plays a crucial role. 

If the test is conducted in English, then it inevitably creates barriers for participants whose primary language is Filipino—or any of the country’s 180+ regional languages.

This is even more pronounced for learners from indigenous backgrounds, where cultural references, idioms, and thought structures differ from those assumed by the test.

Breaking the ‘What Counts as Reading’ Elitism

For some, real reading is still defined by the weight of a hardbound classic, the prestige of a prize-winning novel, or the academic clout of a required text. 

Anything outside that circle—romance, fantasy, fanfiction, or serialized Wattpad stories—is dismissed as frivolous, shallow, or “not real literature.

But this narrow definition ignores the possibilities offered by reading experiences. It disregards the diverse ways a book can touch people’s lives— which, for me, is the primary goal of any artistic endeavors. 

I Love You Since 1892 is an example of this. 

Though it began on Wattpad—a platform often criticized for unpolished writing and the so-called “fantasies of teenage girls”—it managed to weave historical fiction, romance, and time travel into a narrative that captured the imagination of thousands.

Readers who followed Carmela’s journey immersed themselves in the political and cultural tensions of 1892, a few years before the Spanish colonization in the country met its end. It invited them to immerse themselves in the political and cultural tensions of the era, while managing to grip their attention and empathy through the love story of its characters. 

To write off a story like this because it came from Wattpad is to dismiss the genuine engagement it inspired. 

It’s also a missed opportunity to encourage more young people to explore literature with historical or cultural themes. 

When we insist on drawing a line between “highbrow” and “lowbrow” reading, we alienate potential lifelong readers—people who could have started with a Wattpad romance and eventually found themselves exploring more varied genres.

The disdain towards Wattpad could also be an expression of our internalized misogyny. Wattpad is a space where teenage girls thrive—where they experiment with storytelling, explore their interests, and carve out their own literary communities. 

To dismiss it as nothing more than “teen fantasy” or “cringe” is to diminish the creativity, skill, and ambition of these young women. And whether we notice it or not, this attitude can echo deeply rooted misogynistic sentiments—an internalized belief that stories made by and for girls are inherently less worthy.

Cultivating a Culture of Reading

If we want Filipinos to read more, we have to meet them where they are. That means embracing the platforms they use, the genres they love, and the communities they built around those stories. 

It means removing the stigma against popular literature like I Love You Since 1892 and similar stories. 

Of course, acknowledging the value of these works doesn’t mean shielding them from critique. It simply means recognizing their appeal and the role they play in shaping readers’ tastes and habits. Criticism can help these stories grow—but outright dismissal only shuts doors.

When we refuse to acknowledge this, we risk alienating the very people we want to turn into lifelong readers. We tell them, in effect, that what they love doesn’t count. 

But the truth is, every page turned—whether physical or digital—is a step into a story, and every story has the power to inspire, to teach, and to connect. Fostering a reading culture starts with making space for all kinds of stories to exist side by side. 

The leather-bound classic and the Wattpad romance, the award-winning novel and the serialized fantasy—all of them invite someone, somewhere, to read. 

And that’s the point.