BACOLOD City – Hold your horses. The city government here is yet to accept applications from couples who wish to exchange vows in a mass wedding ceremony.
City Civil Registrar Hermilo Pa-oyon said the mass wedding held every February, known as “Kasalan ng Bayan,” is the highlight of the activities in line with the celebration of the Philippine Civil Registration Month.
The said activity was institutionalized by the local government in 2015 through City Ordinance No.08-15-740.
Pa-oyon said he is waiting for announcements from the mayor.
“Because Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is very busy; I am just waiting for his announcement,” Pa-oyon said.
The city ordinance states that “there shall be a celebration of a general mass wedding in a scheduled day in February of every year which may be solemnized by the City Mayor at his discretion, under the powers granted to him under Section 455 of Republic Act No. 7160, known as the Local Government Code of 1991, or by any officer authorized to solemnize within their jurisdiction,”
Last year, about 2,023 couples joined the mass union. It was the biggest number the city mayor had simultaneously solemnized.
Pa-oyon during an interview yesterday, Jan. 11, presented to the media some of the certificates of marriage he is signing which were still from the last year’s ceremony.
“Indi ni pwedi nga iban ang mapirma sa Certificate of Marriage, only the solemnizing officer and the registrar are allowed to sign. Bangud sang kadamu-on nga pilirmahan nga kada couple may tatlo ka set sang documents gane naglab-ot na asta subong nga bulan ang pirmahanay halin sang March last year,” Pa-oyon said.
With this, the city registrar proposed to the mayor that they get a solemnizing officer to minimize the latter’s workload./PN
