The Marriage Seminar in Balamban Cebu

[keithAngel]

We have completed the seminar and certificate is added to our list of paperwork it was an interesting day

The seminar was 8.30- 4.30 with an hour for lunch and conducted almost exclusively in Cebuano. 14 couples of which 3 had children and 2 more visiably pregnant attended

The morning covered the questionaire and basicly was 3.5 hours of non-stop talk by a 62 year old Lady who had been widowed 35 years ago and had prayed not to ever have another Husband (sucsessfully by her report lol) I think the irony was not generaly appreciated.

After lunch we had first a mid-wife who told us how to concieve but advised not to have "to many" and a health worker who described with diagrams various birth control meythods and suggested a 18 month gap between births was a good idea, She failed to mention that condoms could prevent STD,s though.Positively i.u.d.,s are free as of December Vasectomies too so you might want to get that info out if you know any one it may help.

The 4th and only guy talked about budjeting and saving for disasters and all of the lectures sugested fighting with your in-laws was bad.

As to why the P.I. requires guys to attend something they wont understand or even why this is not taught in high school to make sure that everyone has this information go figuer , it was free.

Outside of the relevance of the content, this was the most time i have been submerged in Cebuano for some time and I was pleased to discover I could understand most of the context whilst of course missing the detail and little jokes. This course for language students here could be treated as a resource as it takes your chance for comprehension out of the daily shopping and local chatter and into a more formal /interactive setting I may go again the local folk seemed to like the little extra imput and some enjoyable conversations took place at break times

[Terpe]

Very good and informative post keithAngel. Thank you

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the experience and your slant on language potenial.

Never stop being amazed at this almost compulsary counseling.

Especially at your age. No offence intended

[gWaPito]

It was good to read what the wife and I missed not on! We got married in Las Pinas Manila. We were given the option not to take it at a cost of 2 thousand peso's Looks like it was money well spent. Time was precious so, it gave us an extra day together before flying home alone.

[keithAngel]

Ah time is something im not short of no idea how people manage to get married in 2 weeks though

[baby38]

Is it compulsory to attend a pre marriage seminar,there seems to be different stories regarding this,I know when i got married to my ex Filipino there was no mention of this,maybe ages are different i was 60 and my wife was 29?,I think she was around 23,also they informed 1 day after we registered to get married we can marry any time,yes my marriage was a scam .

[keithAngel]

Its on the requirements list at the town hall where you apply for a Marriage Liscence I decided not to bribe anyone just to see if it could be done and how long it would take

So far the Brit C.N.I. is the most expensive requirement

[Arthur Little]

So far the Brit C.N.I. is the most expensive requirement

... apart from the visa itself, that is ... it's not so much the cost of obtaining the CNI at home ... but the [ludicrous] additional charge levied to exchange it for a less-detailed Phils version at the British Consulate of all places!!

[gWaPito]

Hi Keith Angel. I didnt bribe anyone. It was a service offered by Las Pinas town hall. In no may did I make an offer. They said they make this offer to westerners. Yes, we got married within 3 weeks, work pressures and all that. Jane had it all planed out, even the day out you had! I did have 2 months with her Jan and Feb and again Nov Dec.

[gWaPito]

Sorry to hear about your scam marriage, Baby38. As the saying goes, 'your not the first and your wont be the last'. Your in good company here

[baby38]

Thanks mate,all is good now I married a descent Filipino now,yes as you say I am in great company now.

[keithAngel]

Hi Keith Angel. I didnt bribe anyone. It was a service offered by Las Pinas town hall. In no may did I make an offer. They said they make this offer to westerners. Yes, we got married within 3 weeks, work pressures and all that. Jane had it all planed out, even the day out you had! I did have 2 months with her Jan and Feb and again Nov Dec.

Heh Gwap I dont know when you were getting this together and its no big deal to me either but the Law here requires attendance so where do you think the 2000 piso went? ,for what is now a free seminar went ? lol

[Sim11UK]

We never did it Keith, but it sounds as though you kind of enjoyed it, so it wasn't a day wasted.
When's the big day?

[keithAngel]

Jhean would like 14 th Feb still fair bit of detail wont have the Marriage liscence till the 1st

[gWaPito]

Im not saying it was wasted time for you Keith! I know its free and yes The money went in the pocket of who ever. The city hall in question is the law. I dare say if you and Simon were offered the same deal, you to would of taken his hand off. come on Keith, we all know corruption is the name of the game there, to the point of being normal. Lets not be shocked ah!

[Terpe]

Im not saying it was wasted time for you Keith! I know its free and yes The money went in the pocket of who ever. The city hall in question is the law. I dare say if you and Simon were offered the same deal, you to would of taken his hand off. come on Keith, we all know corruption is the name of the game there, to the point of being normal. Lets not be shocked ah!

That made me smile so much.
Look I know this is off topic, but anyway, my bro-in-law was looking for a parking space, and found, well somewhere. A policeman came over and told us we could not park there. He had wrap around sunglasses and looked very well armed. Also spoke some English to me. We parked there. Why. He told my bro-in-law he would take care of the car, Oh and by the way , did we want to have it cleaned!!!! Yep there was a small fee. But hey, it's so normal. Well it was for everyone else in the car.
Yeah the car was cleaned.

Sorry for hi-jack everybody

[keithAngel]

Im not saying it was wasted time for you Keith! I know its free and yes The money went in the pocket of who ever. The city hall in question is the law. I dare say if you and Simon were offered the same deal, you to would of taken his hand off. come on Keith, we all know corruption is the name of the game there, to the point of being normal. Lets not be shocked ah!

Gwap its true that corruption or at least the attempt of it is rife here ,from immigration officials with new mercs on 20-30000 a month salarys to the fire department that want the proprieter to buy fire extinguishers smoke alarms at inflated prices from there approved supplier.

But that doesnt either make it right nor desirable, in fact its one of the major things holding back developement here in the Phils. To say City Hall is the Law is accepting the Local warlord thing that led to 57 people being killed last November 12 month.

When a country is not governed by the rule of Law but by breaking it to ones own advantage no one is safe

If your on a tight timescale and can find no other way I can fully understand why anyone might join in and would never judge that negatively but I must take you to task when you suggest I would have "taken his hand off" I might have complained about the irrelivance of the law I might have angryly asked to see his superior but accept this in order to evade a responcability ,no matter how ill concieved ,never.

What I did accept was the immersion in how life is for ordinary Filipnas so I could understand the local perspective of how life is here

I dont want to be descrimanated against for being a long nose nor pay "kano" prices but as much as possible be seen as a guy just like everyone else here respected for who I am Some of the tryke drivers resent not being able to charge me double but the majority now just accept the correct fare without a second thought.

Terpe please feel free to be as off topic as you wish

[gWaPito]

Good post Keith That also made me smile. The corruption you state is one of the things holding this country back. I think thats a massive under statement! The politics is rotten to the core, talk about having there fingers in the pie More like up to there neck's in it. If it weren't for Marco not letting the Phil be over run with the Americans this obvious nonsense wouldn't be happening. Its got a cancer that wont get better so like you say Keith, just better to accept there way of life.

[keithAngel]

The nubb of my post Gwap was that by declining easy routes I am at least not contributing to its maintainance

[febmary]

Hey KeithAngel,
How much did u pay for you CNI in exchange of Phil version? Did u go the British Consulate in Mandaue?

Regards,
Ann

[gWaPito]

Thank you Keith and Terpe

[keithAngel]

Hey KeithAngel,
How much did u pay for you CNI in exchange of Phil version? Did u go the British Consulate in Mandaue?

Regards,
Ann

I did both parts here 4666 each part if your exchanging just the single fee

I would suggest you email and get an appointment from Moya for the first morning after your partner arrives She only does a.m. apointments (dont know about weekends)you will need to get the cab to wait and return about 200 -300 piso from uptown cebu if you dont have your own transport.

When you arrive at her subdivision the gate guard will confirm your appointment and you will meet her at the pool

Please be sure you have all the correct documents with you together with good photocopies. Your fiancee does not need to attend but please have all her details with you - i.e. names of parents, her CENOMAR, birth certificate, passport (if not available then a valid I.D., with good photocopies of all these documents.

The above is from her

Your Male British partner? needs passport (she will copy this) your full birth cert. your exchange document from the UK Your devorce decree absolute if applicable and cash in piso


"Moya.Jackson" <Moya.Jackson-HonCon@fconet.fco.gov.uk>Honorary British Consul l British Consulate-Cebu l Villa Terrace, Greenhills Road, Casuntingan,
Mandaue City, Cebu 6014 l Tel: 0063 32 346 0525 l Fax: 0063 32 238 9055 l