Leyte Landslide

ST. BERNARD, Southern Leyte, Philippines -- Neria Bernalez, 50, lost her husband in the landslide that wiped out her village of Guinsaugon in February 17 last year and she thought that she would never find a new love again.

But she did. It was Modesto Libaton, 47, a neighbor in her old village who also lost his wife in the tragedy.

Bernalez and Libaton found themselves living in the same school-turned-shelter for the landslide survivors. Three months later, they started living together as a couple, Neria said.

They helped each other through the difficult times and fell in love, said Neria. They were married on Wednesday, Valentine's Day.

"I could not explain my feelings," she said when asked how it felt to get married for the second time.

Bernalez and Libaton were actually among four couples, all survivors of the Guinsaugon landslide, who got married in a Valentine's Day mass wedding sponsored by the municipal government.

The four new couples were among the 70 pairs who were married at the St. Bernard municipal hall at 3 p.m. Wednesday, a few days before the first year anniversary of the tragedy that buried about a thousand residents of Guinsaugon.

The other survivors who got married on Wednesday were widower Alfredo Buab, 32, and Genelin Dagasdas 18, who lost her family in the tragedy; Vicenta Pilo, 35, and Junie Kafaela, 27; and Anastacia Dagasdas, 47, and Norberto Cavite, 30.

The women donned simple white dresses while the men were in Barong Tagalong.

After the mass wedding, the newly wed couples feasted on spaghetti, fried chicken and bread provided by the municipal government.

They also received miniature bells as giveaways, according to town Mayor Maria Lim.

The wedding rite was officiated by Catholic priests Father Francis Vega and Father Manuel Lagumbay, except for seven couples who were married by Mayor Lim because they were not Catholics.

The four pairs from Guinsaugon are among the more than 40 survivors who are now living in their new homes at the relocation site, which was named after their old buried village, according to New Guinsaugon village chief Iglicerio Coquilla.

Coquilla revealed that he had been living with fellow landslide survivor, 48-year-old Rosario Nabos since last May. He said they also planned to get married but they would be taking their marital vows on the 24th of this month.

"I want it to be special (and not part of a mass wedding)," said Coquilla.

Rogelio Arcenas, another survivor who lost his wife and two children to the mudslide, said he also found a new partner among the survivors but they planned to get married after the commemoration of the tragedy.

In Bacolod City, over 500 couples were wed in a mass held at the Bays Center Wednesday, with Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia solemnizing the rites.

The oldest couple who exchanged marriage vows before the mayor were Melchor Natial, 65, and Hermilinda Barabat, 49, both of the village of Tangub, while the youngest were Ronald Almajo, 18, and Ann Rica Casilagan, 19, both of the village of Handumanan.

"This is one of the most significant projects that the city government has undertaken because we are formalizing and blessing the most basic unit of our society, which is the family," Leonardia said.

The Bacolod City Civil Registrar's Office initiated this year's mass wedding, the biggest recorded in the City, as part of the observance of the Civil Registrar Month, which falls on February, city civil registrar Evelyn Legaspina said on Wednesday.

She recalled that 375 couples participated in last year's mass wedding, while only 351 couples joined the mass wedding in 2005. The mass weddings were held for free, she added.

Records from the Civil Registrar's Office show that the total number of marriages in the city in 2004 was 4,523. This went down to 4,100 in 2005 and 4,030 in 2006. With a report from Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas