Mayor Roble solemnizes vows of 35 couples

HILONGOS, LEYTE, Philippines – As part of the town’s Family Week celebration, 35 couples, covered by the municipal government’s 4Ps, got married in a mass civil wedding officiated by Mayor Jose Emery Roble on September 26.

Roble was enthusiastic in administering the ceremony, saying it was the first time in the town’s history that a mass civil wedding took place.

“While we have witnessed numerous mass wedding in churches, this was the first ever done for a civil ceremony,” he said.

Roble, in sharing his belief in the sanctity of a religious union, repeatedly told the newly married couples to seriously consider also a church wedding later on. “There is no substitute to God’s blessing,” he said.

One of the 4Ps municipal link coordinator Grazela Mae Bayarcal, told The FREEMAN that participating couples can now be legalized, their children legitimized, and can avail themselves of Philhealth benefits, among others.

She and fellow workers–Lancer Jalandoni and Sheila Llevares – started preparing for the event with the rest of the team in this town last March.

They deemed the mass wedding a successful undertaking. “Without the full cooperation and assistance of Mayor Roble and the LGU, we couldn’t have done it,” Bayarcal added. - THE FREEMAN