SP exempts 53 couples from paying marriage fees
Iloilo City -- Considering the significance of Councilor Julienne Baronda's My Dream Wedding project, the Sangguniang Panlungsod approved a resolution exempting 53 couples scheduled for a mass wedding on February 16 from paying their marriage license and seminar fees.
The resolution was sponsored by Baronda herself. The approval of the resolution in last Wednesday's regular session of the city council was also based on the endorsements made Mayor Jerry Treņas and City Treasurer Katherine Tingson.
The approval of the same resolution does not excuse the couples from attending a seminar initiated by the Population Commission. The 53 couples are considered indigents and are patients of the Lapaz Maternity and Reproductive Health Center.
The 53 couples will exchange their married vows on February 16, 2006 at the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish Church in Lapaz. The reception will follow at the Lapaz Public Plaza.
The date of the mass wedding ceremony coincides with the birthday of Baronda. It is her way of expressing gratefulness to all the graces bestowed upon her. Instead of having a big celebration, she would rather have a worthy project such as the mass wedding.
The 53 couples will not spend anything for their wedding rings, cakes, food, wines, doves and church and reception venue's decorations. The mass wedding is also a joint project of the Lapaz Maternity and Reproductive Health Center, represented by Baronda's mother, former Councilor Julie Baronda, and the Iloilo City Hall Press Corps.
Baronda, who is the chair of the committee on women and family relations, also wants to help raise the spiritual and moral standards of the Ilonggos. She wants to continue the mass wedding project even if she is no longer a councilor.
The mass wedding project is already on its second year. In 2005, only 25 couples had their church wedding. The number of would be brides and grooms doubled this year.