ILOILO – Counselling sessions and parenting programs are now available for couples who wanted to get married following the opening of Multipurpose Counselling and Family Development Center in San Miguel town.
Governor Arthur Defensor Sr., San Miguel Mayor Marina Luz Gorriceta and Provincial Population Officer Ramon Yee led the inauguration and blessing of the center on Wednesday (April 4, 2018).
Defensor stressed that the center will play an important role in strengthening the foundation of the family as the basic unit of our society.
“We can save shaky marriages if we submit ourselves to the wisdom of those who know better...those who understand married life,” said Defensor while sharing the experience of her daughter, Arlette.
He said her daughter and her husband submitted to a marriage counsellor during the early years of their marriage and they now have a successful married life with four children.
Gorriceta also said that there will always be problems in our lives and it is better that we have someone to talk to whenever we are in trouble.
“As long as we live, there will always be problems. These problems may haunt couples before, during or after their marriages that only this center can address, so we are very thankful that we are selected to host this project,” said Gorriceta.
The center will serve as a venue for the conduct of pre-marriage counselling session which is a pre-requisite in obtaining marriage licenses, according to Yee.
It is established to ensure the effective delivery of pre-marriage counselling services provided under the new Family Code, Local Civil Code and Reproductive Health Law.
Pre-marriage counselling sessions provide engaged couples with information about marriage and relationships, responsible parenthood, maternal and child health, family planning and home management.
“We cannot have empowered communities if families, being the basic unit of society, are broken. That is why this center is made in order to help couples realize their responsibilities in founding a family,” Yee said.
Engaged couples are not the only one who can benefit from the center because it will also cater to single parents, couples in crisis and individuals who are in need of counselling services.
The center in San Miguel is the second of its kind. The first was in Cabatuan and four more will be established in the province.