By: Villamor C. Visaya Jr.
(Published in its print edition on February 22 – 28, 2025)
MASS weddings were common last February as local government units, non-government organizations and churches team up with the Philippine Statistics Authority in conducting the activities. These occasions mark momentous events marking respective partners as they tie the knot of a lifelong marriage bond.
One example was the mass wedding of 177 couples recently administered by Ilagan City Mayor Josemarie Diaz at the Capital Arena on February 28,2025. The newlyweds include seniors, indigenous folk, and LGBTQ members.
As readers must remember, the Family Code stipulates that “Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life.”
The law also exemplifies that “it is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by the Family Code.”
It can be gleaned from the law that you must nurture the relationship with your legal partner. Solemnizing officers have these usual words to say in Filipino: “Laging tandaan: Magmahalan kayo hanggang sa dulo ng walang hanggan.”
Writer Mignon McLaughlin once said: “A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” Hence, you as the husband or the wife must do the unexpected—love, trust, forgive, and forget—as you thread the path for a happy and lasting marriage.
Moreover, wordsmith Robert Quillen once exemplified that: “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” We are all sinners in this world. We are not perfect like God. We sometimes fall prey and gullible to the whims or caprices of the worldly desires. Tao rin tayo, natutukso, nadadapa at nalulugmok sa pagkakasala.
However, not everything in life is just like the song Bed of Roses. Marami pa ring tinik ang ating tatahakin.
There is a byword that comes around which says: Marriage is a three-ring circus: Engagement Ring, Wedding Ring, Suffe-Ring! Just a joke, though. It means, we must do our best to endure whatever trials and challenges that must come our way.
Just a reminder that we just celebrated the Love Month. February was the Civil Registration Month which reminds Filipinos to register vital events such as births, marriages, and deaths as well as decrees, legal instruments, and judicial orders affecting their civil status.
We must be reminded that accurate civil registration helps facilitate the smooth processing and availing of basic services and transactions with government agencies and private institutions.
Our agency, the Philippine Statistics Authority, is spearheading the event. It is pursuant to Proclamation 682 issued on January 28, 1991 by the former National Statistics Office (now merged with the PSA), the country’s system of civil registration was established on February 27, 1931 by Act No. 3753, the Civil Registry Law, mandating continuous and compulsory recording of births, marriages, and events concerning the status of Filipinos.
The holding of mass weddings is one of the most important activities during the month of February every year. Aside from that, mobile services and other programs are being done to bring civil registration to the people and impart to them the importance of registering vital events.
Sa mga may problema sa dokumentong sibil. Ito ang kasagutan.
You must know that civil registration errors may be remedied now through legal measures. These can be done through administrative acts such as the Republic Act No. 9048 or the Clerical Error Act; the Republic Act No. 9255 or the Act pertaining to the Affidavit to Use the Surname of the Father; the Republic Act No. 10172 or the Correction of Typographical Errors in the Day and Month in the Date of Birth or Sex of a Person Appearing in the Civil Register Without Need of Judicial Order; and the RA 9858, an Act Providing for Legitimation of Children Born to Parents Under the Marrying Age.
The acronym CRVS stands for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics which, in a larger context, is not only about birth, marriage, and death certificates, but about a person’s legal identity, civil status, and right to be recognized as citizen of a state.
Cheers, newlyweds! Savor the moment.#
