A COVID kind of love: Baguio mayor officiates ‘masked wedding’

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Lawyer Rhenan Diwas, the assistant chief of Baguio City Environment and Parks Management, married Dr Stephanie Buliyat of the Benguet General Hospital Saturday, April 18, at the CEPMO with his boss, Mayor Benjamin Magalong, officiating the wedding.

Of course, it was “Love in the Time of Covid” with all those present wearing masks.

Their nuptial hashtag was supposed to be #perfectvision2020 but it became #ourmaskwedding instead.

“Certainly, this is not the kind of wedding we have planned and prepared for,” Diwas said in his FB account.

He said that they’ve been together for two years.

“We got married because we already processed all the requirements. Since weddings are meant to be memorable, we opted to continue to remind us in the future, when challenges come, that we have endured the crisis so we can endure the worst of all,” he said in private message.

Being at CEPMO, he has to be on call all the time and so he cannot get out of City Hall. His office was even turned into a kitchen where he supervises the feeding of their frontliners.

His wife is also a medical frontliner at the Benguet General Hospital. It was fortunate that all 3 positive cases of COVID-19 in that hospital have recovered and were discharged.

“Proud ako na health worker ang minamahal ko. (I’m proud that the one I love is a health worker.)” Diwas said.

A week after the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Baguio in the middle of March, Diwas was forced to go into quarantine because he manifested symptoms of the coronavirus disease. He, however, tested negative with the PCR test. 

“There’s nothing romantic in a pandemic. The disaster it brought to humans in all aspects cannot be outweighed even by the thought that the earth is healing itself,” Dimas said. 

“However, if there’s one thing that we’ve learned in this situation is that life is to be lived even in the slimmest chance of opportunities for no one knows what’s coming next,” he said.

“Life is what we have now and not the lifestyle we are waiting after the pandemic,” Dimas added.

Asked about their honeymoon, he said: “Sa Coron sana pero naging Corona naman kaya after pandemic na. (We wanted our honeymoon to be in Coron, but it became a Corona, so it would have to wait after the pandemic.)” – Rappler.com