In consonance with the celebration of the 30th Civil Registration Month this Feb-ibig month, 118 couples exchange “I Dos” in civil mass weddings conducted in the five municipalities of Guimaras in separate dates and venues.
On Feb 14, 2020, the municipalities of Jordan and Buenavista conducted mass weddings in time for the Valentine’s day celebration which officially united 29 and 22 couples, respectively, while three other mass weddings followed in San Lorenzo (Feb 19) and Sibunag (Feb 20) with 16 couples each and Nueva Valencia (Feb 28) with 35 couples.
The mayor of each municipality officiated the civil mass wedding ceremony and gave their piece of advice on the importance of marriage, the important of trust and confidence, sharing of decisions and the fulfillment of their responsibility towards their children and their family.
Likewise, Provincial Statistics Officer (PSO) of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Guimaras Provincial Statistical Office, Nelida B. Losare, stressed the importance of open communication among couples, unconditional love, inviting the Lord in their lives and learning to forgive and forget are among the key elements of a successful marriage on her inspirational messages.
Losare also reminded the couples of their responsibility, the importance of wedding rights in the lives of a family as a cure to the social problem of illegitimate children, every child has the right to have a name, the right to be registered and the parent’s responsibility of checking the correctness and completeness of entries in the legal documents underscoring their marriage contract before affixing their signature after the wedding, and above all to visit their Local Civil Registrar’s Office and apply for legitimation of their illegitimate children (those children born before their parent’s wedding).
Civil mass wedding is one of the activities conducted by the local government units in Guimaras province thru the efforts of the Municipal Civil Registrars as part of the Civil Registration Month celebration strongly supported by the PSA-Guimaras.