He’s totally old school, Jomari Yllana told me when he asked me to be present on the day he would formally ask longtime girlfriend Abby Viduya’s hand in marriage.

Having been Abby’s secondary father all these many years, starting when she was only 13, I said, yes, immediately. And so it happened that in the late afternoon of February 24, Friday and a holiday, Jomari paid a not-quite-surprising visit to the home of one of Abby’s sisters, Mato V. Avancena, in Paranaque.

The three-termer same-city councilor-actor was accompanied by his mother, Vicky, younger brother Ryan and family, and firstborn Andrei. Trailing close by was a truckload of dinner food.

Jomari was warmly met by members of Abby’s huge family, brothers and sisters, who came in full force from all over, from Canada to Bulacan. He was initially taken aback when, after kissing the hand of Senora Viduya, the latter pointedly remarked, “O ano, ibibitay na ba natin ito?”

The family matriarch, who’s 90, admonished Jomari and Abby to take their forthcoming vows seriously. “This time, you have to do it right, as both of you have made some mistakes in the past,” she said.

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Jomari and Abby, sweethearts during their early teens and costars in two of their earlier films, reunited in their mid-40s through Facebook. Abby had relocated back to Canada by then after quitting her acting career in Manila in the early 2000s.

The pamanhikan went on smoothly, with lots of laughter and recycled stories, capped by sharing of food from both sides of the family, which is the core of such an old Filipino marriage custom that has seemingly gone with the wind. The couple shared with their guests a giant, three-layered mango cake, a gift from their close friend, chef Irish Manrique.

Jomari said that being old school and a provinciano, he wants to preserve tradition. He joked that he could even stage a harana (serenade) if his bride would want one.

Initially, Abby was unbelieving. She has been through a couple of failed relationships on top of being a mother of three.

Jomari has more or less the same personal track record, himself also a father of three by different women.

Before the day was over, he announced to his new extended Viduya family that he and Abby shall have a civil wedding first, followed by a church wedding in the same old cathedral in Naga City where his parents wedded before Our Lady of Penafrancia.