VIRAC, Catanduanes: A COUPLE out to obtain a marriage license here must first plant five fruit-bearing trees—that’s what a newly enacted ordinance calls for.
Vice Gov. Jose Teves Jr. said that the ordinance only covers Virac as provided in the ordinance drawn by councilors Herman Zafe and Virgilio Candelaria. He was hoping other municipalities would follow.
The ordinance calls for a minimum of five trees to be planted by soon-to-be married couples, certified by the barangay chairman which would be the basis for the issuance of the marriage license. The ordinance tasks the barangay council shall see to it that the planted trees are tended to and protected.
The ordinance does not exclude couples to be married in a mass wedding ceremony and that a refusal of the barangay head to issue the certification or an issuance of a favorable certification despite of the absence of actual planted trees would render him administratively liable.
The ordinance said the tree seedlings shall be provided by the municipal agriculture office. In the absence of seedlings, the municipal agriculture office shall issue the certification of non-availability and that the couple can be solemnized, however, with their marriage contract to be released only once the certification has been issued by the barangay that the planting of trees have been complied with.
