DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — They probably got their cue from Colombian Nobel prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez’ “Love in the Time of Cholera.” Or maybe because coronavirus is in the air. Then again, it could just be plain, old-fashioned love.

One hundred and eighty-three Filipino couples, all contract workers, have tied the knot at the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) since the mission resumed consular services, which included solemnizing marriages, on April 26 this year, following a 24-hour disinfection program by the UAE government at the height of the corona virus pandemic on March 25.

The numbers are expected to continue increasing in the coming months, officials said.

Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes, who also officiates the weddings, said the number proves love knows no barrier.

“The pandemic had strengthened couples’ resolve to spend their lives through crisis and through good times,” he said. “These 183 couples have decided to live their dreams together… with the pandemic, hoping for a silver lining (and) a brighter future where they could lead their new families to,” he added.

Social Welfare Attaché Judith Bacwaden, who provides the required pre-wedding counselling as per the Philippines’ New Family Code, said that indeed, love conquers all.

“Covid is not a hindrance,” she said.  “I try to use webinar kung marami sila.”

In compliance with the “Guidelines and Protocol for Reopening of Establishments” issued by the Dubai Government on April 23, PCG conducts the solemnizations two couples at a time on Thursdays, where during the pre-covid days, it would be an average of 25 also on the same day, or a total of about 1,200 a year.

Long distance relationships

At least five couples in every weekly group wedding have gone through long distance relationships where one went ahead to Dubai, saved money and sponsored his or her soulmate’s visa to follow next.
Among those who got married during these days of the pandemic were Jamille Domingo and Louise Marasigan, both of Quezon City and who also went through an LDR – at least for a little over a year.

“He went to Dubai in April 2018, I followed him and moved here in July 2019,” Domingo said.

Domingo said that so far, all they want to do is “try to survive this crisis and get out of it alive and well.”

“We’re still religiously saving up for our plans like buying a lot. But we also know that those plans will get delayed, and we’re trying to come to terms with it. What’s important is to stay alive and safe from all this,” she said.

Domingo, a media practitioner, shared that she got engaged in February. “Right there and then, we decided to have our civil wedding within 2020, so that it would be easier for us to prepare for our Church wedding in 2021,” she said.

The couple had planned to have their civil wedding in May. “But then because of the restrictions and temporary suspension of consular activities, we weren’t able to process it on time. Even our church wedding was delayed. Now, we have halted all plans indefinitely, although we are targeting to hold it sometime in 2022,” she said. Domingo said they had their share of learning from the pandemic: “We realized that we don’t have all the time in the world, and that we need to do what we want to do while we still can.”

“We didn’t become obsessed with grand weddings anymore unlike how we were during a few months back. We just wanted to be husband and wife and we got scared that if we waited a little longer, we may never get the chance,” she said.

Among basic requirements is a Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).    Following the solemnization, the couples are given an official marriage certificate issued by PSA in four months.

Group weddings were also held at the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi.