A LOVE that blossomed through a social networking site eventually ended in marriage.
Carlo Caday, 26, told Sun. Star Cebu that he first met his girlfriend, Michelle Bacarro, 18, through the popular social networking site Facebook.
After four months of online and offline dating, Caday finally decided to pop the question to Bacarro.
Caday and Bacarro are one of 72 couples who officially tied the knot during a mass wedding organized by the City Government of Naga last Wednesday.
They were also the youngest couple who joined this year’s mass wedding.
The wedding held at the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in Barangay East Poblacion in Naga was the sixth mass wedding held by the City since the program started in 2011.
It was part of the City of Naga’s activities during their week-long 9th Charter Day celebration.
The couples’ principal sponsors were Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, Jobella Davide, wife of Gov. Hilario Davide III; and East Poblacion Barangay Capain Scott Chiong, who served as proxy for Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas (Cebu, 1st).
The wedding was also witnessed by City of Naga Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong.
Chiong told reporters that even though only a few couples availed of their free wedding this year, she said it is a sign that majority of the couples in the city already have legitimate unions.
Chiong said that since 2011, a total of 1,008 couples have gotten married through the City’s mass wedding program.
She said she is glad that the City has served as an instrument for these couples to legitimize their union.
Couples who joined the mass wedding were able to secure free documentation services from the local registrar.
They also got a wedding cake as a gift from the City.
Chiong said she decided to continue the program not because it was started by her father and former city mayor Valdemar Chiong, but also because she believes in the importance of marriage as an institution.
“I’m just really happy that we served as instruments in order for their union to be blessed by God and we hope that by doing this, their families become stronger,” she added.
