It took almost an hour for 152 couples to walk down the aisle on Valentine’s Day at the J Centre Mall convention hall in Mandaue City yesterday morning.
The mass wedding, dubbed ‘I Do, I Do!’ was sponsored by the state-owned Pag-IBIG Fund and officiated by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes.
American Marion Weidner, 49, and his 37-year-old girlfriend, Senceridad Salomon, stood out in the crowd.
Weidner wore a cowboy hat, white polo shirt and black pants. His bride, a quality auditor at Lear Corporation, wore a white bridal gown made in the US.
Their romance started on line two years ago when they met in social networking site last Aug. 4, 2011.
At the time, she was mending a broken heart after her boyfriend had left her for another woman.
Weidner, a 49-year-old English professor of Hualnian University in China, found the timing on Valentine’s Day perfect.
Salomon said she was “being practical” in joining the mass wedding, which meant substantial savings for the new couple.
Weddings rings of all 157 couples were provided by Pag-IBIG Fund, the government’s mutual fund for housing. Sponsors took care of give-away tokens, the brides’ bouquets, cupcakes and a lunch reception.
LUMAD UNION
Another striking couple was a Lumad pair from Mindanao — 33-year-old T’boli tribal member Vilma Dani from Cotabato City and 33-year-old B’laan Jover Singcula of Sarangani.
They met in a boat in 2007 travelling from General Santos City to Iloilo City. After living together for five years in Mandaue City, they applied for a marriage license in December 2012.
While deciding whether to have a church ceremony or have the union solemnized by a judge, Singcula, a taxi driver heard of the ‘I Do, I Do!’ mass wedding over the radio. They decided to apply.
Vilma, a homemaker, said she felt happiest now after finally getting married to her mate.
Under the Local Government Code, one of the duties of a mayor is to solemnize marriages within his area of jurisdiction.
Mayor Cortes told the couples that marriage is not just a contract but a lifetime bond between a husband and wife.
“The most beautiful things in life are not seen but felt in our hearts,” Cortes said.
Ma. Salve Ceniza, chief of the marketing and enforcement division of Pag-IBIG, said this was the second year the mass wedding was sponsored by the government owned and controlled corporation.
In the first year, at least 236 couples had their marriages solemnized by Cebu City by Mayor Michael Rama.