562 couples join Bacolod City mass wedding
BACOLOD CITY – Five hundred sixty-two couples from 61 barangays participated yesterday in a record-breaking mass wedding sponsored by the City Government of Bacolod led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia who also served as the solemnizing officer.
The mass wedding coincided with the Valentines Day ocasion along with the Chinese New Year.
Leonardia said that this year’s mass wedding is a record breaking event in the history of Bacolod.
Mayor Leonardia stressed that this program is one of the activities set by the city government to promote the welfare of the families and children, and to legalize the unions of many couples who cannot afford to get married.
The City Government sponsors every year this “Mass Wedding Program” in line with the Local Civil Registrar’s Month where the indigent couples who cannot afford to get married had been given an opportunity to legitimize their relations.
Local Civil Registrar Head Evelyn Legaspina said that even if they have already accommodated the 562 couples, there were additional couples who went to their office and inquire for the Application Form.
“The couples were earlier identified by the Civil Registrar’s Office through their respective barangays”, Legaspina said. Out of 562, 18 of them were in the bracket of eighteen years old and the oldest couple who tied the knot were Celedonio Tolico, 71 yrs, and wife Rosario Quezon, 67 years old.
