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• Surrounded by her family, Patricia Lantin on Thursday marked her rare February 29 birthday, a Leap Day that appears in calendars once roughly every four years. 

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  On non-Leap Years, Lantin would usually celebrate her birthday on either February 28 or March 1. 
  
  
  “I like to celebrate it on Feb 28 ‘cause I still wanna embrace being a February baby. But sometimes, me and my fam celebrate it on March 1 ‘cause that’s when I officially become a year older,” said the Gen Z-er “leapling” or person born on Feb. 29. 
  “Internally, I get more fulfilled every time there’s a February 29 ‘cause it means I really deserve to celebrate and to be celebrated,” Lantin added.
  Leap years occur every 4 years, except century years or those ending in double zeros like 1900 or 2100. But there is an exception to this exception: century years that can be divided by 4 such as 2000 and 1600, according to a  Reuters report.
  Julius Caesar instituted the leap year system in about 44 BC to correct a defect in the calendar that would put the seasons out of sync, the report added. 
  Various studies say there are only about 5 million people whose birthday falls on leap day.  
  
  
  LIST: Promos for leap year, February 29, 2024
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• LEAPLINGS’ CHALLENGES 
  Septuagenarian leapling Elisa Colle said an unfair superstition surrounding leaplings is that they are dull-witted supposedly because their birthday is often absent in the calendar.
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  The retired seamstress said that while she no longer pays heed to this mischaracterization, there was once a time when she avoided telling other people that her birthday falls on February  29. 
  
  
  “Di ko na masyado ‘yan pinapansin mga sabi-sabi,” Colle said. 
  
  
  Meanwhile, Lantin said she was often told her birthday is connected with luck. 
  
  
  “Some say it's ‘malas.’ Others say it's lucky being a leap year baby,” she said.
  
  
  Meanwhile, Colle said her parents decided to register her birth date as 26th of February to avoid complications with official documents. 
  
  
  Another leapling, Benson Cariñaga said his birthday has not caused him any logistical difficulty with official documents.  
  
  
  “Maayos naman dito pagdating sa mga documents. Sa edad lang kasi ‘di naman namin pwede ilagay kung ilang beses pa lang kami mag-birthday kundi yung taon-taon talaga,” he said. 
  
  
  EXTRA SPECIAL DAY 
  
  
  Cariñaga said he would celebrate his birthday through a gift-giving in his community. The millennial teacher said he wishes that leaplings could have a chance to gather and seize their special day.
  
  
  Colle said leap years make her birthday extra special compared to ordinary years when it does not appear in the calendar.
  
  
  “Ako tinitingnan ko na lang na parang nakakapagpabawas ng edad ko kasi matanda na ako eh pero kung bibilangin mo lang ang totoong birthday ko eh bata pa ako kung ganoon,” Colle said. 
  
  
  “I still love it kasi kahit na di naman siya every year dumadating, yun pa rin yung totoo kong kapanganakan,” she added.