Around 20 inmates and their partners were married inside the Mandaluyong City Jail on Wednesday, Sept. 20, marking the city's first mass civilian wedding held inside the city jail.
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Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin Abalos Sr. presided over the ceremony, along with Vice Mayor Menchie Abalos, city councilors, and Jail Chief Superintendent Clint Russel Tangeres from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology - National Capital Region (BJMP-NCR).
The "Kasalan sa Piitan" is part of the city government’s “Reintegration, Reformation Program” for city jail inmates who have earned good conduct time allowances.
According to City Civil Registry head Atty. Gabriel Corton, the programs seeks to “help inmates and their respective spouses legalize their marriage,” along with aiding them in “processing the legitimacy of their children in their birth certificates.”
Some of the betrothed were three couples who were already live-in partners before they entered the jail, and one male inmate was wedded to his 70-year-old partner.
“The city government recognizes the right of PDLs to marry their partners even while serving time in jail,” it said in a statement.