BEHIND the very stylish and overwhelming success of the mass wedding of 100 couples last Oct. 4, 2019 sponsored by the Cebu City Government at the Waterfront Hotel Cebu were intrigues and credit-grabbing by some personalities who were tasked to organize the event. In fact, there was an attempt to sabotage the event so that the one who organized it first would be placed in a bad light.
In her privilege speech during the council’s last session, Councilor Nina Mabatid lamented how some personalities, including the wife of a ranking City Hall official, tried to scuttle the preparations. She expressed her frustration and disappointment on the actuation of some members of the women’s commission.
Mabatid, the chairperson of the committee on women in the city council, was first tasked by the mayor to organize the event. But later on, the mayor convened the women’s commission, of which he is the chairman. But he appointed the wife of a ranking City Hall official to be his representative to the commission, which reportedly took over the preparations. Mabatid was the commission’s vice chairman.
“Organizing the mass wedding was not easy, but what made it more difficult was the antagonism of four commissioners and one person who boastfully said that she is the alter ego of the mayor. They contributed nothing to the mass wedding and yet they had the nerve to show up at the event wearing all black with print in the back ‘Office of the Mayor.’ It caught the attention of many critics and couples who got insulted by this. All black in a wedding?” Mabatid said in her speech.
Mabatid said: “Not only that, they brought negative energy to the commission, all sorts of intrigues, scaring the employees, making them choose between me and them, manipulating them and even told one of the employees: ‘Ako’y nakapasulod nimo. Ako ra sad ang makapahawa nimo.’ On the day of the event, the same commissioner tried to mess up the setup of the venue and cause trouble when everything was perfectly organized.”
Mabatid added: “They even had the nerve to scold our volunteers just because they refused to follow their instructions as the volunteers only followed the original plan. The commissioner also questioned the honorarium of P1,000 given to each volunteer.”
Sources said it was Mabatid who negotiated with the management of Waterfront Hotel for the venue of the mass wedding for free. The ceremonies, starting with the mass at the Cebu Cathedral up to the reception with the help of a battery of wedding coordinators and other nitty-gritty, were conceptualized by Mabatid before the commission came in. A band and a group of entertainers serenaded the couples. The newlyweds were allowed to bring selected visitors during the reception. Mayor Edgardo Labella and his wife Joy and other elected officials acted as main sponsors.
During the previous administration, there were also free mass weddings. But the ceremonies were simple. After the wedding ceremony at the Cebu Cathedral, the couples were given lechon each and they proceeded to their respective homes where they held the reception. But this time, it was quite different. The reception was held at a five-star hotel. It was very lavish like a wedding of a moneyed couple.
Were there people with an ax to grind against Mabatid? Was that the reason they tried to sabotage the event so that the failure would be blamed on the lady councilor? Or were there people who wanted to grab the entire credit even if they were only “kibitzers” of the event?
I think this already reached the attention of Mayor Labella as the matter was discussed during the session.
I would like to suggest to the honorable mayor to intervene because if this “conflict” is not resolved, it may affect his leadership. People may think that he has no control over his people. He has to hold a dialogue between the members of the commission so that they can iron out their differences and unite for future activities. Tan-aw nako away babaye ra ni. Tag-as lang og garbo. Unya gusto lang mopapel ang uban ngadto sa mayor.