ABUCAY, Bataan — Thirty couples of various ages, some living-in for 30 years, exchanged “I dos” in a simple mass wedding Tuesday.
Municipal Judge Rolando Tungol presided over the marriage rites at the Las Marianas Café to couples with the youngest groom at 18 years old and the oldest at 88 years old.
Among the newlyweds were Marcelino Oliveria, 88, and Purisima, 62, who have been living-in for eight years. They are childless.
Joaquin dela Cruz, 52, and Maribeth, 45, bore seven children without the benefit of marriage for 30 years.
“Para na rin sa mga bata,” they replied when asked why they decided to get married only now. The groom, a tricycle driver and the bride, a storekeeper, described as “masaya” of their feeling after being declared “man and wife.”
Each couple was given one-half sack of rice and other giveaways.
The mass wedding arranged by the Municipal Registrar’s Office was a project of the municipal government under Mayor Liberato Santiago.
