334 couples join mass wedding on Valentine’s Day in Isabela

Bonifacio Tapuling and his wife Remedios meekly kiss each other in a mass wedding of 334 couples on Valentine’s Day in Ilagan City, Isabela.(VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.)

CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela — Some 334 couples have exchanged vows on Valentine’s Day in a mass wedding at the Ilagan Community Center, one of many activities held to mark the Civil Registration Month here.

Danver Albert Arzaga, city civil registrar, said the oldest couple who got married were Bonifacio Tapuling, 64, and Remedios Archuela, 62. Three Maranao couples also joined the mass wedding.

“Marriage is an inviolable social contract, so I encouraged the couples who were previously unmarried to embrace the legal union,” he added.

Arzaga also noted that an Agta couple — Santos Ancheta and Normida Bau — also got married. They have five children.

A groom and his bride signs their marriage certificate to officially become legally married while Ilagan Mayor Evelyn Diaz (extreme left) looks on in a mass wedding of 334 couples on Valentine’s Day in Ilagan City in Isabela. (VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.)

Mayor Evelyn Diaz has encouraged couples to remain committed and “in love” with each other’s partner forever.

“It is noteworthy that you already settled down because statistics showed that there are so many live-in couples now. Marriage is the best foundation of a family,” the mayor said.

Cristilu Geronimo, acting supervising statistical specialist of the Philippine Statistics Authority in Isabela, said the celebration of the Civil Registration Month include activities such as mass weddings, mobile registration, quiz and slogan bees, and tarpaulin displays, among others. /ee