Isabela woman weds dead fiance
CAUAYAN CITY, Philippines – Her fiance died in a road accident on Friday, but 30-year-old Geraldine Tiñoso proceeded with their scheduled wedding on Saturday at her home in Barangay (village) Sillawit here.
Dressed in a white wedding dress, Tiñoso made her marriage vows before the immaculately white coffin of her 24-year-old fiance, Rolly Bacud.
Bacud and a companion were on a motorcycle on their way to a pre-wedding party when their bike was struck by a speeding trailer truck on the national highway. His companion survived.
Tiñoso asked a local pastor to officiate at the ceremony. At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, she placed a wedding ring on Bacud’s finger, and said in Ilocano, “I swear that I will forever love you. No one will take my heart but you.”
Mayor Benjamin Dy, who heard about the wedding, said Tiñoso’s relatives and neighbors appeared respectful at the grim ceremony, which ended with a feast of chicken and pork. Wedding invitations and gifts were also handed out to the guests, he said.
Remelinda Punzalan, president of the Isabela Civil Registrars Association, said the ceremony was not legally binding, however. She said the deceased would-be groom was unable to complete the documentary requirements necessary for government to recognize the union.
