Another wedding?

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Bacolod City and some other local government units in Negros Occidental, took advantage of the day of lovers yesterday, to arrange for the mass wedding of hundreds of couples who have been living together, some for years, without the benefit of marriage. Exceeding the expectations of their organizers, the rituals were joined by so many men and women, all of them anxious, figuratively, make “honest people” of each other.

It is good to know that the cities of Bacolod and Silay, and the town of E.B. Magalona, and perhaps some others we have not heard from yet, have taken great efforts to gather the heads of those families who have been co-habiting for so long, some of them already with grandchildren, on an informal basis, without making the commitments that the rites of marriage call for.

They have also seen to it that the hassles usually involved in arranging for such a ceremony are taken care of by their respective staffs, so the participants themselves no longer have to bother with all the paperwork and preparations entailed.

Another thing that probably made the unwed couples decide to tie-the-knot even this late, is the fact that they were made to realize how important it is to their offspring for their parents to be part of a legitimized union. These days when so many young people, especially those who have graduated from specialized courses, want to work abroad, much of the trouble they may encounter in acquiring the needed documents would be avoided with their parents legally married.

As far as government, both ours and those of other countries, are concerned, yesterday’s marriages, performed by the mayors, are legal and binding. However, for those who belong to religion like the Catholics, a civil wedding is not quite the ideal as far as their faith is concerned. Since the local governments have taken the initiative, therefore, it is to be hoped that the churches to which such couples belong, will also help them acquire the status of being church-joined and accommodate them, because many of them have intimated difficulties in attaining this.*