VALENTINE’S DAY

ALAMINOS CITY—With the majestic Hundred Islands serving as a backdrop, 158 couples tied the knot in a mass civil wedding here at sunset on Valentine’s Day.

This now annual event is Alaminos City’s own way of legitimizing unions of couples sans the benefit of a wedding ceremony and also to promote the Hundred Islands as a top tourist destination in the country.

Mayor Hernani Braganza officiated the mass civil wedding held at Lucap, the jump off point to the Hundred Islands.

Before he began the ceremony, he impressed upon the couples and their guests the value of marriage and pointed out that the mass civil wedding is the city government’s continuing contribution to strengthen family ties.

“The family is the foundation of the Philippine society, that is why the families here today must maintain their good ties to set a good example for their children and children’s children,” he said.

Marriage, said Braganza, gives legal protection to the offspring in relation to acquiring a birth certificate, which is a necessary document for enrolling in schools or applying for a passport.

With the grooms wearing barong tagalog and the brides in their white wedding gowns, the mass civil wedding at sunset proceeded into the night until four couples were adjudged the “kissingest couples”, they who kissed the longest.

The mass civil wedding was the centerpiece of a city government program called “Hundred Kisses for the Hundred Islands”.

The oldest groom was 81 years old who took a 64-year old bride while the youngest couple was both 18, the legal age set under the Philippine Family Code.

The couples’ godparents were all members of the city council headed by Vice Mayor Teofilo  Humilde Jr., City Administrator Wilmer Panabang and the city’s 39 barangay chairmen.

In a talk to local newsmen, the mayor said “the mass civil wedding was part of our service to our constituents, especially those belonging to the poorer sector of the society who have no money to formalize their relationship.”

City Civil Registrar Reynaldo Castro and his staff undertook painstaking efforts to search for couples who had been living together without the benefit of marriage.

The couples were offered free civil wedding ceremony and exemption from paying the application fee for their respective marriage licenses.

The wedding cakes, red wine, buntings and decorations were provided by the city government and by their selected sponsors.

A rock band serenaded the newly weds with romantic songs as they entertained guests and their relatives in the joint party.

Braganza believes the mass civil wedding will continue for some more years because the   civil registry office estimated that there are still from 1,500 to 2,000 couples in Alaminos City who have not legitimized their union.—LM

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments