Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri yesterday officiated the first-ever Muslim civil mass wedding in the city.
About 150 brides and their grooms, all residents of Barangay 188 in Tala, the city’s largest Muslim community, were civilly married in a ceremony held at the Caloocan City Hall North plaza in Camarin.
Ustadz Ansary Mustapha began the wedding ceremony by reading religious passages from the Qur’an.
“Some of the couples have already been married and blessed by the imam but there is no marriage contract,” city civil registrar Luchi Flores said.
Flores said the civil wedding was not organized by the mayor but was requested by the local Muslim leaders to allow the participating couples to properly secure their marriage licenses. – Pete Laude