HUDCC TO CONDUCT MASS WEDDINGS FOR RAILWAY SETTLERS
July 1, 2005
From housing, the government’s lead shelter agency will now
go into weddings as well.
This was revealed by Vice President Noli De Castro, chairman
of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), as
he witnessed the wedding of 95 couples at the historic Barasoain Church
in Malolos, Bulacan.
De Castro stood as godfather to the couples, all residents
of the communities along the North Rail line in Malolos that will all
be demolished soon to make way for the rehabilitation and modernization
of the railway system.
According to the Vice President, HUDCC discovered that one
of the problems encountered by the National Housing Authority (NHA) in
processing and identifying the relocation beneficiaries is the lack of
marriage licenses of many cohabiting couples among the railway
settlers.
“Some of you may not have the money, or the time to arrange
your own wedding. That is why we immediately supported the idea of
having a mass wedding when it was presented to us,” he said.
He disclosed that the idea was first raised by Fr. Dennis
Espejo, Chairman of the Commission on Service of the Malolos Diocese,
for the railway settlers of Malolos.
He added that HUDCC has decided to coordinate with concerned
groups to conduct similar mass weddings for the other communities along
the Bulacan segment of North Rail.
“This will now be part of our relocation program for North
Rail,” he said.
Aside from facilitating the relocation process, De Castro
stressed that marriage is important in strengthening the bond between a
couple, “as it bestows divine blessing on your partnership.”
He compared getting married to having secure shelter tenure.
“As you secure your life together through
the bond of marriage, so is the government securing your family’s
future through formal home ownership. This is the deeper objective of
the North Rail resettlement program, which was formulated with your
participation,” he said.
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2005,
Office of the Vice President (OVP) - Management Information Services
Division (MISD). All rights reserved.
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