Philippine couple marries in hip-deep floodwaters
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- 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 postponing the wedding, but the couple chose to proceed during a period of heavy monsoon rains.
- Floods and landslides in the northern Philippines killed 34 people in August, according to the latest official tally.
Leian Lieza Galang walked down the aisle through hip-deep brown floodwater to marry Gilbert Chico at a Catholic church in Hagonoy, north of Manila.
The couple held their ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at Saint John the Baptist Church after heavy rains had battered large parts of the Philippines for a month. The parish had advised them to postpone the wedding because floodwaters were rising upstream, but they decided to continue.
The parish had advised them to postpone the wedding due to the rising floodwaters from upstream. It was their decision to proceed.
The priest conducted a shortened late-morning ceremony, according to wedding photographer Mikko Rey Alfonso, who witnessed his first flooded wedding at the parish. The church had remained partly underwater for nearly a month. Parish workers helped make the ceremony possible, Alfonso said.
The bride arrived by rickshaw with an elevated chassis, which helped keep her white gown clean before she reached the church courtyard. Workers shortened the gown's train so she could move through the water more safely. Fewer than 15 people attended.
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.
Images shared by the parish showed the bride embracing her parents before empty pews decorated with plastic flowers. Another image showed a boy carrying the wedding rings down the aisle with water up to his waist. Alfonso said, "They love each other. Nothing could stop their union." The couple did not respond to questions from AFP.
Seasonal monsoon rains heavier than usual affected the northern third of the mainly Catholic archipelago in August. Landslides and flash floods killed 34 people, according to the latest official tally.
They love each other. Nothing could stop their union.
About this summary
Originally published by CNA 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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