In solitude, when her mind wanders and her spirit soars, one song flutters from the chambers of her heart.
"Ikaw."
She hums it, as if in prayer and thanksgiving: "Ikaw ang bigay ng Maykapal, tugon sa aking dasal."
The George Canseco original, made popular as a duet between Sharon Cuneta and Ariel Rivera in the 1990s from a movie of the same title, makes Maria Cecilia Tria-Bravo shed a tear or two, even as we speak of the song’s lovely melody and its timeless message, the gift of love from high above.
The hauntingly romantic strains of "Ikaw," in fact, filled the air as Cecille and her husband Pedro Bravo renewed their marital vows on Sept. 22, 2022, 9:30 a.m. at Santuario de San Jose, Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan. It was to be their 15th wedding anniversary, also coinciding with Pedro’s 70th birthday, officiated by Fr. Alex Muana, SVD.
Cecille was teary-eyed when she heard Dulce and Ima Castro alternately sing "Ikaw" during the wedding procession and bridal march. When Wency Cornejo sang "Hanggang" as she reached the altar, she was ready to smudge her makeup.
The wedding, a sign of the couple’s great love, was to be their third. Pedro and Cecille first got married in a civil ceremony in 2007. It was followed by a garden wedding, in Christian rites, at Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay on Aug. 8, 2008 in what the bride says was an effort to cash in on a lucky streak, 8-8-8. Cecille, a Roman Catholic, has always dreamed of a traditional church wedding, with flower girls marching and white doves flying in the air. It was enough inspiration for Pedro to ask her again in marriage, this time, at a more proper, yet historic, venue.
Few locations can match the romance and dreamy ambiance flaunted by Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, that sprawling village (400 hectares) of vintage, colonial-style houses facing the West Philippine Sea in the southwestern part of Bataan. Las Casas literally brings you back in time, to a simpler time, when gentlemen wrote love letters to their sweethearts (that was how lovers were called then) on scented paper by long hand, and women used the language of fan and handkerchief to signify if the feeling was mutual.
On her third wedding day to the same man in a span of 15 years, Cecille wore a Maria Clara-inspired gown by Nino Angeles and Raymund Saul in Spanish lace with payettes lined with Duchess satin and encrusted with crystals. Pedro, on the other hand, looked every inch the gentle Filipino lover in a barong by Jovan de la Cruz.
At 55, Cecille was given away by her mother Hazel C. Amante. Reception for close to 350 guests followed at Plaza Belmonte, which took on a Pahiyas motif replete with colorful rice kiping and a generally festive mood. Guests helped themselves to a lavish spread of lechon baboy and baka, rice cakes, and more native food at various stations.
In keeping with tradition, bride and groom were showered with rice, coins, and flowers as they passed. More paper bills were pinned on their garments as they performed the prosperity dance on a native mat.
Vlogger Wilbert Tolentino topped them all when he pinned a total of ₱100,000 on his two friends. Later that day, an even merrier celebration awaited guests at Hotel de Oriente at the same resort complex, where guests grooved to a 1970s inspired discotheque, courtesy of La Familia band, Gigi de Lana, and Joey Generoso. It was hosted by John Nite. Some of the guests were to join Pedro and Cecille a few days later on their honeymoon befitting all newlyweds in Amanpulo, Palawan.
Cecille was managing a family-owned heavy equipment business in Quiapo, Manila when she met Pedro, an electrical engineering graduate from FEATI University, in the mid-2000s. Despite the 15-year age difference, she was immediately drawn to him. "Mapagmahal po siya," she says. They quickly became friends. She found him humorous and attractive. "Despite his success as a businessman, he wasn’t full of hot air and was quite down to earth."
Surely, Pedro, an Ilocano from Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, had his ways with women. Cecille, whose family hails from nearby Orion town which is also in Bataan, chuckles as she shares how her husband, a widower when she married him, used to rationalize things with her. He’d say, "Mapagbigay lang ako, hindi ako madamot sa pagmamahal." His witticism and sense of humor never fail to win her over and over again. "Besides, that side to his personality is now part of the past," says Cecille. "He appreciates me while I look up to him." Where "Ikaw" is her song for him, "Hanggang" by Wency Cornejo is his song for her.
They have two children between them, plus one each from their previous relationships, rounding up the family to four (and then some). Pedro is president of Intele Builders and Development Corporation, a company engaged in the setting up of telecommunication towers, satellites, and wiring cable of telecoms like Globe. Started in 1986 with just one table and a landline, the company has grown by leaps and bounds, so that it now has a staff of 170.
Cecille, who has a degree in Marketing from the College of the Holy Spirit in Manila, works closely with her husband in running the business. She takes care of finance and administration. She thinks her greatest contribution as Pedro’s partner lies in her innate strength as a risk-taker. "Malakas talaga ang loob ko. I’m a fast decision maker," she says. Little wonder she didn’t have to think twice when Pedro asked her to marry her thrice in a row.