184 couples wed in Hundred Islands park

AT LEAST 184 couples wait to take their vows in the first mass beach wedding held at the Hundred Islands National Park in Alaminos City on Valentine’s Day. WILLIE LOMIBAO/CONTRIBUTOR

ALAMINOS CITY—Before the sun rose on Valentine’s Day, 184 brides, resplendent in flowing white dresses and flower tiaras adorning their hairs, boarded boats to the Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) here. With them were their grooms who were dazzling in white short-sleeve shirts, short pants and leis around their necks.

Friday was a special day for the couples, many of them having lived together for years and have started their own families. It was the first day of their lives officially as husbands and wives as the Alaminos City government organized a mass wedding to solemnize their union on Valentine’s Day.

The oldest couple were Virgilio Banogon, 62, and his partner for about 20 years, Tita Ubungen, 58. They have three children, aged 15 to 20. The youngest couple were both 18 years old.

The mass wedding, dubbed “I do, I do, Araw ng Pag-Ibig 2014,” was sponsored by the Alaminos City government and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig Fund). It was solemnized by Mayor Arthur Celeste on Quezon Island, one of the three major islands at HINP.

Lilia Anguluan, Pag-Ibig Fund Northern Luzon area head, said there were 4,356 couples married in 27 sites where the mass weddings were simultaneously held by the agency on Friday. The event was held in coordination with local governments and the Department of Tourism.

“We are planning to enter the activity in the Guinness World Records for having the most couples wed simultaneously,” she said. Since the agency is also known as Pag-Ibig (the Filipino word for love), she said the agency’s officials decided to hold the event on Feb. 14, the day of love.

The mass wedding at HINP was held on the white sand beach of Quezon Island while the reception was held on the Quezon, Governor’s and Children’s islands.

Celeste said the wedding was held here to showcase the beauty of HINP, Pangasinan’s top tourist destination.

“We are also making history because this is the first time that a [mass] wedding was held here,” he said.

In 2011, a couple renewed their vows through an underwater and cave wedding ceremony at Cuenca Cave at HINP. The city government has been conducting mass weddings at the HINP’s jump-off points, Lucap Wharf or Bolo Beach, since 2004.

Lovely Milles, city assistant civil registrar, said 189 couples had registered for Friday’s mass wedding but four of the brides were in their late stages of pregnancy.

Celeste decided to officiate the ceremony at the City Hall because travel to the islands would be risky to the expectant mothers. Another couple failed to join the mass wedding and was also married by Celeste in his office.