270 Muslim couples wed in mass rites

MANILA, Philippines - Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri yesterday solemnized the marriage of 270 couples during the city’s second Muslim mass wedding yesterday at the Caloocan City Hall.

Echiverri said the event was the biggest ever gathering of those belonging to the Muslim faith in Caloocan’s history. Last October, 120 Muslim couples were married in a mass wedding.

He said the mass wedding was requested by village leaders headed by chairman Edress Domato of Barangay 188, which hosts the city’s largest Muslim community.

Echiverri clarified that he did not organize the mass wedding in order to favor one religion but rather to have an exclusive ceremony, led by Imam Abdul Rahman Bantawi, that will allow couples “to properly and expeditiously secure their marriage licenses.”

Philippine Association of Civil Registrars national president and Caloocan civil registrar Luchi Flores said their office will also ensure the proper birth registration of the couples’ children.       – Jerry Botial