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🇸🇬 Singapore /Good News

Philippine Couple Marries in Hip-Deep Floodwaters

From The Straits Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Leian Lieza Galang and Gilbert Chico married at Saint John the Baptist Church in Hagonoy despite floodwaters reaching hip height inside the building.
  • The parish had advised the couple to postpone the ceremony, but they chose to proceed with fewer than 15 people attending.
  • Heavy monsoon rains caused landslides and flash floods that killed 34 people across the northern Philippines in August, according to the latest official tally.

Leian Lieza Galang waded through hip-deep brown floodwater in her white wedding gown to marry Gilbert Chico at a Catholic church north of Manila.

We were in complete uniform. We did not mind that our gown and coat got soaked.

— Gilbert ChicoThe groom described the couple’s decision to continue with their wedding despite the floodwaters.

The couple held their ceremony on Sept. 1 at Saint John the Baptist Church in Hagonoy, where floodwater had partly covered the building for nearly a month. The parish had advised them to postpone the wedding because of rising water from upstream, but they decided to go ahead.

“We were in complete uniform. We did not mind that our gown and coat got soaked,” Chico told AFP. The parish priest conducted an abbreviated late-morning ceremony, while parish workers helped make the day possible. The bride shortened her gown’s train so she could move more safely through the water.

The parish had advised them to postpone the wedding due to the rising floodwaters from upstream. It was their decision to proceed.

— Mikko Rey AlfonsoThe wedding photographer explained that the couple chose to continue after receiving advice to delay the ceremony.

The couple arrived in a rickshaw with an elevated chassis, allowing them to keep their clothes dry until they reached the church courtyard. Fewer than 15 people attended. A video posted on the parish’s Facebook page showed Galang being embraced by her parents near empty pews decorated with plastic flowers, while a boy carried the wedding rings down the aisle with water reaching his waist.

Since they wanted to see it through, we the servants of the parish did the best we could to make this a special day for them.

— Mikko Rey AlfonsoThe photographer described how parish workers supported the ceremony.

Chico, who works as a rigger in the Middle East, had originally planned to marry in December. An ankle injury sustained while playing basketball brought him home earlier for vacation, giving the couple an opportunity to hold the wedding before he returned to work. “They love each other. Nothing could stop their union,” photographer Mikko Rey Alfonso said.

They love each other. Nothing could stop their union.

— Mikko Rey AlfonsoThe photographer summed up the couple’s determination after the ceremony.
About this summary

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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