City of Sta Rosa Laguna welcomes 248 newlyweds to New City Hallextension

Magandang balita mula sa Sta Rosa,Laguna

CITY OF SANTA ROSA, LAGUNA – On Valentine’s Day, Mayor Arlene B. Arcillas solemnized the marriage of 248 couples at the newly opened Auditorium of this city during City’s Libreng Kasal 2015.

 “Kayo po ang unang gumamit ng auditorium na ito. Regalo ko po sa inyo ang magandang venue na ito para sa inyong pag-iisang dibdib,” said Mayor Arcillas during the marriage ceremony.

This is the 16^th year of the Libreng Kasal program of the city, spearheaded by the Office of City Civil Registrar.

According to City Civil Registrar Alicia Parsai, the CCRO continue to implement the program because more couples wanted to avail of the program.

Beneficiaries of program not only fulfil their dreams of formal marriage, they also receive the union for free, complete with rings, gifts and souvenirs for the bride and groom and meals for the family.

To accommodate more couples and for the city to fulfil its commitment to unite couples in marriage, a second batch of Libreng Kasal 2015 will held in June of this year.

City Hall B

Aside from the free wedding ceremonies, the use of the newly opened Auditorium also served as the city’s gift to the couples.  The Auditorium is part of the newly constructed extension building of the city hall, formally called City Hall B.

In an interview after the ceremonies, Mayor Arcillas said that aside from the new auditorium, the City Hall B also offers bigger spaces for frontline services such as City Social Welfare and Development Office, the City Civil Registrar Office, Public Employment Service Office, and City Health Office I among others.

These offices provide social assistance, birth and marriage registration, employment services and health services - services that need to be made more efficient and convenient.

The City Hall B was constructed to house all offices of the city government into one compound, making the city government center a one-stop-shop where frontline services can be easily accessed by Rosenians and visitors.

With the City Hall B, the Government will now have an additional total working floor area of 8,600 square meters and 4,000 square meters allotted for parking of public and private vehicles.

The blessing of City Hall B was held on February 10, 2015. With its opening, the extension building will now be able cater to the large volume of constituents.

Currently, the Main City Hall Building can accommodate around 2,000 employees and workers attending to the arrival of more than a thousand visitors and clients transacting daily with the City Government.

Advices

Before solemnizing the marriage, Mayor Arcillas shared with the 248 pairs the 4Rs of marriage: Romance, Responsibility, Respect and Remittance. She said that all the four Rs are the basic condition to a lasting marriage is love. “Ang pag-ibig ay buhay at may buhay kaya kinakailangan itong arugain at ingatan para manatiling buhay habangbuhay,” said Mayor Arcillas.

Meanwhile Vice Mayor Arnel DC Gomez imparted the three Cs which is very important in any marriage. These are Commitment, Compromise and Christ-Centeredness.  He even joked that the couples should not regret getting married. “If by any chance you regret or magsisi in Filipino, ang dapat ninyong gawin ay mag-C-C-C,” said the Vice Mayor referring to the three Cs he mentioned.

The newlyweds were also encouraged to have their unions solemnized in the religion they belong to.

Special guests who also shared their marriage advice were Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino, Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez and Laguna First District Representative Dan Fernandez.

Officers from the Philippines Statistics Authority, headed by Regional Director Rosalinda Bautista, also gave their well wishes and put much emphasis on the significance of the marriage rites and the effect of this in legal documents of the couples and their children.

Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, barangay chairpersons, heads of city government and national offices also graced the occasion.

February is observed as Civil Registration Month and this year’s theme is “Sama ka sa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Groupie.” The observation enjoins the public to get involved in improving the quality of civil registry data through 100% registration of birth, marriage and death