50 couples in city’s mass wedding

Around 50 couples exchanged “I dos” during the 3rd Cebu City Mass Wedding held at Saint Joseph de Patriarch Parish Church in Mabolo yesterday afternoon.

After the ceremony, a sumptuous reception was held at the Cebu Coliseum sponsored by the city government. The buffet dinner included one lechon per couple.

The Cebu City government has been organizing a mass wedding for three consecutive years already for the benefit of indigent couples who have been unwed for at least five years.

Councilor Lea Ouano Japson, chairperson of the City Council committee on women and family affairs, said of the 100 applicants this year, only 50 couples were able to complete the requirements and were able to participate in the free nuptials.

The city has allocated more than P200,000 budget for the program, Japson said. Church and seminar fees and food expenses during the reception were shouldered by the city government.

Japson said the mass wedding was originally a project of the women’s commission headed by the city mayor. It was initiated to strengthen the drive for women empowerment and to help women legalize their marriage in church.

Believing that the project is beneficial to women, Japson said it is one way to eliminate live-in relationships since a “normal family is a happy family and happy families make up a happy city.”

To complete the event, the newly wed couples were given a free mini-concert by selected performers from the Cebu Malay Society of Composers, Artists and Producers. — Jessica Ann Pareja/LPM