Pag-IBIG Fund once again celebrated Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, as Araw ng Pag-IBIG when it held its annual “I Do, I Do! Araw ng Pag-IBIG” where more than 2,400 couples exchanged wedding vows in 24 venues nationwide.
In Metro Manila, more than 500 couples participated in the event at the PICC Forum, Pasay City.
“Valentine’s Day is a day of love, hence it is our day—Pag-IBIG Day. Since 2012, it has become our tradition at Pag-IBIG Fund to celebrate Valentine’s Day with mass weddings for Pag-IBIG members who wished to legalize their union or renew their marriage vows. We want to assure the couple-participants that they have a reliable partner in Pag-IBIG as they prepare for the future of their families. We are now on our sixth year,” said Pag-IBIG Fund president and CEO lawyer Darlene Marie B. Berberabe.
She added: “The annual event is our way of promoting Pag-IBIG to Filipino workers who are not yet Pag-IBIG members. We do this via collaboration with local government units [LGUs] and other government agencies.”
From 2012 to 2016, the Fund was able to wed over 16,000 couples in 118 venues nationwide. The annual event strengthened Pag-IBIG’s linkage and cooperation with LGUs and regional offices of the Department of Tourism, since the venues were at some of the country’s top tourist attractions and chief cities and municipalities.
The event primarily targets Pag-IBIG Fund members and non-members who would want to legalize their unions, especially those who do not have the financial means to do so. It is a venue for Pag-IBIG to show that it is not only a savings institution and a provider of housing finance, but also a staunch supporter in the building of happy families—the family being the basic unit and pillar of society—through the formal union of couples.
Pag-IBIG provided most of the basic accessories to make the occasion more memorable to the couples, including bouquets and headdresses for the brides, and symbolic wedding rings. The Fund also prepared the couples’ first meal as husband and wife, standing in for the traditional reception after the wedding ceremony. A house-and-lot package, livelihood packages, and several special prizes were also raffled off to lucky couples.
“The event has fostered goodwill between Pag-IBIG and its members. We have become a significant part of the couples’ lives. We help them begin and build their lives together. As Pag-IBIG members, they qualify to avail of our benefit programs – from saving for their future to acquiring their own homes. This is something that we cannot quantify,” Atty. Berberabe added.
The “I Do, I Do!” event has won several awards for Pag-IBIG. In 2013, the event won the first Philippine Quill for a Government Communication Program from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines.
The next year, it was given the Bronze Award by the Advertising Foundation of the Philippines for Advocacy Communications, for promoting the values of reverence for the family unit or marriage and responsible parenthood.
On the same year, it was also cited by the TV show Philippine Book of Records as having the “most number of couples in a nationwide mass wedding.” Last year, the ASEAN Social Security Association gave it the Excellence Award under Strategic Communication.