Philippines: Falling in love in… and for the Red Cross

Their eager colleagues were quick to pair them up because Mariegen was newly single from breaking up with her boyfriend. Their colleagues even lent Fons a motorcycle, so he and Mariegen could roam around Dumaguete together.

“Alam mo ba Ate Mariegen, dalaga ka pa, at binata pa yan si Fons (You know Mariegen, you’re single, and Fons is still a bachelor),” they teased.

Mariegen recalled that once Fons’ class was done, she would help him clean the area. “I also prepared his meals since he was busy with the training,” she said.

These gestures of kindness would not go unnoticed: on Fons’ last week, he started wooing Mariegen. They decided to start dating even if they were aware that they would soon be separated, with Fons going to Davao and Mariegen heading for Cebu.

She reminisced: “When he left, I felt this emptiness in my heart.”

The two kept in touch through letters, cards, and telegrams. It was the ’90s, after all.

“We would write to each other about sweet nothings and what nots,” recounted Mariegen. “It reached the point when I became friends with the postman, as he would notify me ahead if there was a message for me.”

The two also made regular, long-distance phone calls to maintain their relationship.

After some months of getting to know each other, the couple decided to get married. There was a challenge, though: Mariegen was still living in Cebu, while Fons was transferred to Manila. Friends from the PRC came to the couple’s rescue and asked a PRC volunteer’s father – a judge – to officiate their wedding.

“Even the wife of the judge helped in preparing the documents – they organized everything,” noted Mariegen.

On 13 February 1992, the pair were married in a simple civil ceremony in Dumaguete, the city where their love blossomed. Yesterday, they celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary.