Monthly Archives: November 2010

Church Requirements

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NB: Please read as well updated Church Requirements post here.

Getting married in the Church here in the Philippines certainly just doesn’t only involve getting a priest to bless your marriage – although I think it would mean more meaningful that way. It doesn’t only involve gathering around and saying our prayers and asking (and receiving) the blessing. How I so wish it’s as easy as that! But no, there are a lot of bureaucracies involved and we have to comply with it all so that we will be allowed to get married in the Church.

Normally, for couples who are both Filipinos and are both Catholics and haven’t been married yet, below are the documents you need to submit to the Church and the process you need to go through:

  1. Marriage License – can be obtained from the municipal hall of either the bride or groom
  2. New Copy of Baptismal Certificate – secured from the Parish where the person received the Sacrament of Baptism and annotated with “For Marriage Purposes”. Must be requested no longer than 6 months before the wedding.
  3. New Copy of Confirmation Certificate – secured from the Parish where the person received the Sacrament of Confirmation and annotated with “For Marriage Purposes”. Must be requested no longer than 6 months before the wedding. I had Mama request for Items 2 and 3.
  4. Name/License No. of Officiating Priest
  5. Name of Sponsors
  6. Certificate of Freedom to Marry – for those who stayed abroad for more than 6 months
  7. Wallet size picture
  8. Pre-cana seminar – For Caleruega weddings, the pre-cana seminar can be taken from any parish anywhere in the Philippines. The couple just need to secure a certificate of attendance. This may not hold true for other Churches though.
  9. Wedding Banns
  10. Canonical Interviews

Once you have Items 1 ~ 7, submit the documents to the Chancery (in our case Lipa Chancery). Lipa Chancery will then issue us a letter of endorsement for Xavier Parish (parish incharge of Caleruega). Xavier Parish will then issue the letter for the request of the publication of wedding banns. The wedding banns need to be published in the couple’s hometown or place of current residence for 3 consecutive Sundays.

Once done with Items 8 and 9, a copy of the signed publication of the wedding banns and the certificate of attendance in the pre-cana seminar has to be presented to the church you’re marrying in to have a schedule for the Canonical interview which shall be conducted by the parish priest of the Church you are marrying in. For our case, Xavier Parish (in behalf of Caleruega) will only schedule us for canonical interview after we’ve had the pre-cana seminar.   

It doesn’t end with the Canonical Interview. After the Canonical interview, the (1) signed publication of Wedding banns, (2) certificate of attendance in pre-cana seminar and (3) result ot canonical interview has to be submitted to the Chancery Office. Depending on results of the Canonical interview, the Chancery may schedule the couple for an interview with the Canon Lawyer.

Once done with the Chancery, the couple has to wait for a 3-day processing period before the couple can receive the signed Clearance from the Chancery Office together with all the original documents submitted (NB: couple must make sure to secure photocopies of all the original documents you submitted just in case such documents might be asked for by other entities). Once all documents has been received from the Chancery, the couple must then submit all the documents to the Church the couple is marrying in. Done.

BUT oh! Didn’t I say above process is only for couples who are both Filipinos and are both Catholics and haven’t been married yet? Yes, even when you’re civilly married, it still doesn’t save you from needing to submit the documents required by the Church. More so, it still doesn’t save you from needing to undergo seminars. Hence the only requirement we need not submit in above list is Item 1.

Our case is a little extra special. We have been civilly married already and my groom is a non-practicing Christian and of a different nationality with Nihongo as a national language (to which it follows that all documents issued by his government is in Nihongo). Hence as expected, we have to submit ADDITIONAL requirements on top of those listed above.

  1. Marriage Contract – true, we eliminated Item 1 in above list but then it got replaced with this. Our Marriage Contract is in Japanese hence it has to be translated first. The Japanese priest who usually helps Japanese nationals with their marriages here in Philippines recently died last August. At the moment, they haven’t found any replacement for his post hence the Chancery can’t advise us yet their accredited translator. At the moment though, they would accept Hubbie’s translation (whew! yey!). We need to provide the official translation from the accredited agency later, though.
  2. Copy of my CENOMAR (certificate of no marriage) – the one used during your application for civil marriage. For my case, the Philippine embassy in Tokyo required it be authenticated by the DFA here hence my CENOMAR has got a DFA red-ribbon with it.
  3. Groom’s Certificate of Singleness – the one used during application for civil marriage. For our case, this is Hubbie’s Koseki Tohon (Family Register).Thankfully, the Phil. embassy required us to pay for the translation of this and also gave us the original copy after our CNO application so I already have this.
  4. Certificate of Freedom to Marry for the Groom – this is a letter or certificate signed by the groom’s pastor that says that the pastor knows that the groom is free to marry, and has no record of previous marriage in his church. Yes, even when we’re already married, they still requested for this since, as they say, “in the eyes of the church, we’re still not married”.  This got me scratching my head. Aren’t government papers enough? Anyways, since Hubbie is non-practicing Christian, Item 3 will have to suffice (thankfully!!).
  5. Photocopy of the Groom’s passport

Depending on Fr. Nishimoto’s replacement, there may be additional requirements on top of above 5 requirements.

 Quite a tall order eh? In any case, as it is said, when you’ve worked really hard to get something, then that something will be of more value to you once you have it. Getting past the obstacle will make a sweet victory. Gambatte to us Hubbie! =)

————

2 hours after:

Thanks to Erika, my question on why our processing is more complicated than usual was answered. To quote her:

The Clearance at the Chancery Office is only required for couples where one of the marrying party is either of the following:
1. Non-Filipino citizens
2. Filipino citizens who have lived abroad for more than 6 years
3. Non-catholic individuals
4. Individuals who were previously married and whose marriage was dissolved

Otherwise, if you are both single, Filipino and Catholic, there is no need to seek clearance at the Chancery Office. All requirements will be processed by the parish where the marriage will take place – or in your case, the parish who handles the Chapel.

Thanks Erika! =)

K by Cunanan

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I admit. I was partial when I went to my foodtasting with K by Cunanan Catering. I checked out their website and I love their arrangement – for sure it’s not baduy; it’s very classy and tasteful just like the way I want it. It was also serendipitous that when I visited Ville Sommet, it was K by Cunanan who was making their set-up for a wedding reception. By the way, that same wedding had Detalye Team, my wedding coordinator, as the coordinator. Totally serendipitous right? And I must say, I was quite satisfied (if not impressed) with the setup and the staff that I chanced upon in Ville Sommet.

What was left to find out then was the food. I’m a foodie of some sort hence, I really am quite picky with the food I eat. Was not impressed with Juan Carlo. Was halfhearted with Hizon’s food and was totally not impressed with their service. Last December, I’ve been to an officemate’s wedding in Fernwoods and they had Josiah’s – everything was good, really good.

But then I preferred K by Cunanan arrangement and I was bent on knowing how their food tastes like. And I must say I wasn’t disappointed during my foodtasting last Oct 28. I wasn’t really expecting anything, but with K’s food, I found the right kind of food that my palate was looking(? or more like craving?) for for our wedding.

First off, Appetizer: Crackling Pork Wrap. I like how the hoisin sauce melded just right with the pork. One thing I didn’t like though: the wansuy/coriander inside the wrap. I like all vietnamese food except when wansuy/coriander is included in it (gah!). I wonder though if our guests would like it since Hubby certainly was ok with it during our Vietnam Trip.

Soup: Tomato, Lentil and Couscous. I have partial aversion to tomato-based food so when I get to appreciate anything that’s tomato-based it has to be really good. And this one is. Well anyway, for me, any dish that has lentil on it is good haha. It’s a bit heavy on the stomach though, because of the couscous but I ain’t complaining! yummy! ^_^

Salad: Three Melon Salad with Arugula in citrus dressing. Three being melon, yellow-colored watermelon and uhm….it was green-colored so perhaps, honeydew? although it certainly wasn’t sweet. Hence my vote would have to be santa claus melon. I should  have asked Macy about it and see if my guess was correct. ^_^

Rice! The carrot rice was oh so delicious!

Main dish: Osso Bucco. My stomach have a problem digesting beef so I can only eat Japanese beef which has very tender meat or thinly-sliced beef. Hence for beef cuts like this one, I usually don’t eat. For the sake of my guests though, I have to taste this. And good thing I did. Yes the cut was a big chunk of red meat but it was so tender you can’t help but eat the whole chunk. The sauce, I-jut-love-the-sauce.

NB: Osso Bucco can be either lamb or beef but K’s choice is beef.

Pasta: Mussel and Cream Pasta. In most restaurants (say, Brooklyn Pizza in ATC), I find myself asking the waiter for parmesan cheese or salt. For this one though, taste was just perfect. Pasta wasn’t dry nor swimming in cream either – it was just perfect. One thing though: if you take out all the mussells, the pasta would look like it was robbed naked. ^_^

Main Dish: Honey Nut Prawn. Macy gave us a choice whether to have the 5-dish or the 4-dish package. With 5-dish, you won’t get to have a seafood dish. It was fine with me since I am already assured of the quality of their food hence I was already leaning on the quantity side. But that bias was forgotten the moment I tasted the Honey Nut Prawn. Macy told me this dish is the best in their line. But I was in no way prepared of the GOODNESS it has. K had me at this.

The grapes were very sweet by the way.

So full, so full! But wait, there’s still dessert! Tropical Fruit Compote, Picatostes with chocolate dip and Crepe Samurai (mango). The Crepe Samurai was my favorite – the grilled flavor contrasted with the mango giving a rich flavor that’s really nice to the palate.

Aahh..Just looking at the menu makes me more excited for our wedding. Or even with the detailing! For now, we’re just pencil-booked though. We will make our booking come Bridal Fair on January.

Thanks to Rezza for taking the time to accompany me and for having had the foresight to bring her camera with her.

Report of Marriage (ROM)

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We had to wait till the revised Koseki Tohon (Family Register) was issued before we had to report our marriage to the Philippine embassy in Japan. NB: Revised Koseki Tohon will already reflect my name as hubby’s wifey on their family tree. As such, hubby was only able to apply for our ROM last Oct 25 – more than a month after our civil marriage. In any case, kudos hubby for successfully getting through the maze in Philippine Embassy in Tokyo! =)

Now, as usual, ROM is not just “reporting”. It has a lot of documentation required.

  1. Duly accomplished Report of Marriage (ROM) application form available at the Consular Information Counter, or downloadable from the official Embassy website at http://tokyo.philembassy.net. It would be helpful if you try to secure ahead of time a blank copy of the form. Forms are forms and there might be additional requirements that are indicated on the form which wasn’t stated on the website nor was informed by the government official when you had your inquiry. This was our lessons learned for the civil marriage application form in Minami Ward Office.
  2. One original and 2 copies of Certified true copy of the Marriage Notification Report to City Hall (Konintodoke no Kisai Jiko Shomeisho). This one is the equivalent of the Marriage certificate here in Philippines.
  3. One Original and 2 copies of the following, whichever is applicable, to be obtained from the City Hall:
    • If spouse is Japanese, latest Family Registry (Koseki Tohon) reflecting the couple’s place and date of marriage. (Koseki Shohon, Certificate of Acceptance of Marriage is NOT acceptable)
    • If spouse is a Foreign National other than Japanese:
      1. Certificate of Acceptance of Marriage (Juri Shomeisho) showing the couple’s place and date of marriage.
      2. Two (2) Passport copies of foreign national
  4. Certificate of No Objection (CNO)  (2 copies)
  5. Birth Certificate of the Filipino spouse in security paper issued by the NSO (Original & 2 copies). The Philippine Embassy required that the birth certificate I give them has to be further authenticated by the DFA. I got several copies hence the one we submitted was not only NSO authenticated but DFA authenticated as well.

REMINDERS:

  • The Koseki Tohon can usually be obtained after one week (or more) from the City Hall which accepted the marriage of the couple. In our case, it was “or more”.
  • The original of the CNO goes to the City Hall while the photocopy is retained by the Filipino applicant for future reference.  An applicant is reminded to secure and retain a photocopy of all important documents submitted to the City Hall, such as CNO and authenticated Birth Certficate, etc., in case they are required for submission to the Embassy.

FEES:

Basic Fee : US$25
Translation Fee (of Koseki Tohon) : US$25

Above full information was taken from The Philippine Embassy Consular Section ROM webpage.

Oh by the way, it would take 2 weeks before we can obtain the certificate of ROM which we will use in our other applications. And yes, we still have more documentations and applications our way. Both in Japan, and here, for the Church wedding. Goodluck to us hubby! =)