The Grand Wedding of Duke and Christina

For the first time in the history of weddings in Cebu, two highly esteemed presidents and the vice president of the country were principal sponsors during the grand wedding of Liloan Mayor Vincent Franco Frasco, son of Mrs. Cynthia Frasco, and lawyer Ma. Esperanza Christina Garcia Codilla, daughter of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia.

Setting of the wedding was the imposing Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Walking down the Subdued but elegantly decorated aisle unescorted from the entrance, Christina, svelte and slimmer than her mom in her Arcy Gayatin bustier finery, was met halfway by her doting grandfather, Rep. Pablo Paras Garcia who gave her away in marriage to the handsome Duke who stood waiting at the chancel of the altar. His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal officiated the nuptial rites, assisted by Msgr. Roberto Alesna and concelebrated during the Mass by 17 priests.

As the Mass continued, His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal delivered a beautiful homily wherein he emphatically said: “No matter what family you come from, whether from a prominent political clan or from an ordinary working class family, all weddings are the same. It is a bond between man and woman made by God in His own image to sanctify human love, and to share His divine power of creating the human person!”

Heading the list of 18 distinguished principal sponsors were: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro; former President Joseph Estrada and Mrs. Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung; GSIS President Winston Garcia and Senator Loren Legarda; Rep. Pablo John Garcia and Rep. Nerissa Soon Ruiz; Rep. Benhur Salimbangon and Mayor Sally Perez; Consul Andoni Aboitiz and Ms. Marissa N. Fernan; French Consul Michel Lhuillier and Mrs. Linda Ocampo; Consul Roberto Aboitiz and Mrs. Amparito Lhuillier; Mr. Carlos Yeung and Mrs. Marian Aboitiz; Usec Phineas Alburo and Consul Armi Garcia, to name a few.

After the church ceremony, the president and her entourage left for Manila, but cocktails and dinner reception followed at the Cebu International Convention Center where Cebu’s who’s who – all in all reaching 1,300 guests, came to this grandest wedding of the decade.

After the big event, the handsome young couple left for their honeymoon in Europe and the United States of America.