As the nation marked All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, Cainta, Rizal Mayor Kit Nieto shared a moving story about a couple he had married just months ago, whose wife had since passed away, with her husband visiting her grave during Undas, reminding everyone to cherish the time they still have with their loved ones.

In an interview with the PaMaMaRiSan Rizal Press Corps, Nieto shared a meaningful experience about the importance of valuing loved ones and making the most of the time spent with them.

He recounted a recent visit to a cemetery, where he was distributing candles to people paying respects to their departed loved ones, when a man suddenly approached him and asked, “Mayor, natatandaan niyo po ba ako? (Mayor, do you still remember me?)”

It turned out that the man was one of Nieto’s godsons from a mass wedding held a few months ago.

Because he had been godfather to so many couples through a mass wedding, Nieto admitted he could no longer recall the man right away. Still, he took a moment to greet him, and the man did not say much—he simply pointed to a grave a few meters away from them.

“Wala na po ang misis ko (My wife is gone),” the man softly told him, showing a photo of the three of them taken during the wedding.

“May sakit na kasi siya niyan, pero pinilit naming pakasal kahit may taning na siya (She was already ill back then, but we still went through with the wedding even though her days were numbered),” the man continued, moving the mayor and leaving him emotional.

Even though the mayor did not get the man’s name, he was deeply moved by the couple’s love story—their decision to marry despite the wife’s illness. He dedicated a song in their honor, a small tribute to remind the man that he was not alone.

“I was moved by the thought na kinasal sila [kahit] alam niya mamatay na yung asawa niya (I was moved by the thought that they got married even though he knew his wife was dying),” he said.

“But they still pushed through with the wedding. Because they wanted to be together formally and legally until the last day of the wife. When he showed me yung picture, I felt like siguro sabi ko bigyan ko man lang siya ng konting tribute na sana umabot sa kanya (When he showed me our picture, I felt that maybe I should at least give him a small tribute, something that, hopefully, could reach her wherever she is now),” he added.

Nieto then reflected on the couple’s story to inspire others to keep choosing love no matter where they are or what circumstances they face, saying it is always comforting to have someone by their side, someone who will stand behind them and face life’s challenges with them.

“It's a successful attempt on my part to make people realize that they should value yung pagmamahal ng mga tao. Binigyan sila ng importansya, binigyan sila ng panahon… na hindi pinagkait yung buhay nila (It's a successful attempt on my part to make people realize that they should value the love they receive from others. They were given importance, given time… their lives were not deprived of love),” Nieto said.

“Kasi time is so fleeting, you never know when it's gonna end. Sometimes the tendency is for us not to appreciate that or take it for granted. Only to realize one day that wala na, it's all over (Only to realize one day that it’s gone—it’s all over),” he added.

“And you can only look back at your past and maybe reminisce about the good times that you had with the people you chose to love, diba? So I think many people got affected by it [the song], hopefully positively, para makatulong na to inspire them to be in love (So I think many people were moved by it [the song]—hopefully in a positive way, to inspire them to keep choosing love),” the mayor continued.

He then told the man and others in similar situations to remember how fortunate they were to have had the chance to marry the person they love most, even if their time together was shorter than they had hoped, and to cherish the moments they shared.

“How blessed you are that you had this opportunity to know this person, na even if it did not really last as long as you wished, you had that chance. Mas maraming tao na hindi nagkaroon ng pagkatataong magmahal (Many people never get the chance to experience love),” the mayor said.