FOR MOST people, Iloilo City’s Charter Day is a celebration of history – the story of a city that has grown, changed, and moved forward through the years. But for 53 couples, this year’s 89th Charter Day became the beginning of a different kind of story.
Under the same celebration that honors Iloilo City’s past, 53 couples stood together and made a promise about their future. They said “I do,” but behind those two words were years of getting to know one another, choosing each other, overcoming disagreements, sharing ordinary days, and holding on through difficult ones.
Because love, after all, is rarely found in grand gestures alone.
“‘I love you,’ these three simple words have changed the lives of 53 couples,” Mayor Raisa Treñas said, as she congratulated the newlyweds during the city government’s Free Mass Wedding held as part of the Charter Day celebration on August 19.
The mass wedding has become a meaningful tradition of the Iloilo City Government. Held not only during Charter Day but also during Valentine’s Day and other significant occasions, it gives couples the chance to formalize their love and begin married life together without the usual financial burden of a wedding.
Yet the ceremony is only one moment in their journey.
The real story begins after the flowers have wilted, the photographs have been taken, and the celebration is over. It begins in the quiet mornings, in shared meals, in bills and responsibilities, in disagreements followed by forgiveness, and in the countless small decisions to remain together.
“Wala sang marriage nga mahapos,” Mayor Treñas reminded the couples.
There is no perfect marriage, only two people willing to keep choosing one another – to stand by each other, to grow together, to journey through life, whatever season may come.
For these 53 couples, their wedding day was not the end of their love story. It was a new page.
And while Iloilo City celebrated 89 years of its own journey, 53 couples celebrated theirs with promises spoken aloud, hands held tightly, and three simple words that, for them, now carry a lifetime of meaning:
“I love you.”/PN
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Mayor Raisa Treñas (center) congratulates the newlyweds during the Iloilo City Government’s Free Mass Wedding held as part of the city’s 89th Charter Day celebration.
J. MUÑOZ / ILOILO CITY PIO PHOTOS
