Free Wedding on Valentine’s Day
The Alaminos City government will hold its 8th Mass Civil Wedding on February 14 (Valentine’s Day) dubbed Hundred Kisses at the Hundred Islands.
Started in 2004 by Mayor Hernani Braganza, the mass wedding seeks to encourage Alaminos couples, especially those living without the benefit of solemnization, to participate in the biggest free wedding rites in the province.
City Civil Registrar Reynaldo Castro said there were 914 newly born babies registered to their office by non-married parents last year, adding that the challenge is for them to convince couples and get their affirmation to get married on February 14.
He said a letter of invitation will be sent to all the unmarried couples.
For the last seven years, City Mayor Braganza, who acted as solemnizing officer, had legitimized the union of some 800 couples.
The couples who come from the city’s 39 barangays are of different ages, beliefs, backgrounds and even nationality.
Castro said the city government is embarking on a massive info-dissemination drive in the barangays this week to promote the mass civil wedding and lure more unmarried partners to grab the golden opportunity to get married.
“More and more couples tend to cohabit rather than marry. Others even forego marriage because of the current financial crisis,” he observed.
However, with the help of our barangay officials, we hope that the unwed couples will do the best thing for their family – secure and fill up their marriage application forms and exchange I Do’s on Valentines Day,” he continued.
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