Due to our ehem advanced age, one of the documents (among a dozen of them!) required to be submitted to the Church and the City Hall (to get a marriage license) is the CENOMAR. A certificate of no marriage which states that neither of the contracting parties involved has been previously married. The said document has to be issued for both the bride and the groom and the releasing agency is the National Statistics Office in East Avenue, Q.C. Naturally, I firmly trusted D when he told me while we were still dating that he has never been married but apparently just saying it out loud to anyone who cares to listen doesn't count. It has to be validated and authenticated by the NSO.
So D and I agreed to meet at the NSO at 8 AM sharp this morning to get an early start. Truth be told, I expected total mayhem and confusion as is to be expected from most government agencies. Thankfully it was a rather pleasantly cool day so I wasn't sweating like a pig although I was fully prepared for it by wearing a loose t-shirt and I brought along two huge hankies.
We go to the processing area, got our CENOMAR forms from some guy at a small table. We filled it up, got our numbers and waited patiently to be heralded to the screener's table whose only task is to check whether the form is filled up accurately. Then we queued at the payment counter. It took us only 45 minutes. 45 minutes which I didn't mind at all because I am by nature a very patient person. But really it was rather painless.
It was for me an enjoyable experience because it meant that I got to spend the day with D running all sorts of errands. First, we applied for CENOMARs at the NSO in East Avenue. Second we applied for a certified true copy of D's baptismal and confirmation certificates at the San Rafael Church in Pasay City. Lastly we ended the day at Escolta, Binondo and Santa Cruz in the hopes of buying wedding bands only to come home empty handed because of my indecision! I had a difficult time picking a ring. You know the one which calls out to me with the words - "Pick me, choose me! I will look good on D's finger without drawing too much attention from certain bad elements of society!" =)
So D and I agreed to meet at the NSO at 8 AM sharp this morning to get an early start. Truth be told, I expected total mayhem and confusion as is to be expected from most government agencies. Thankfully it was a rather pleasantly cool day so I wasn't sweating like a pig although I was fully prepared for it by wearing a loose t-shirt and I brought along two huge hankies.
We go to the processing area, got our CENOMAR forms from some guy at a small table. We filled it up, got our numbers and waited patiently to be heralded to the screener's table whose only task is to check whether the form is filled up accurately. Then we queued at the payment counter. It took us only 45 minutes. 45 minutes which I didn't mind at all because I am by nature a very patient person. But really it was rather painless.
It was for me an enjoyable experience because it meant that I got to spend the day with D running all sorts of errands. First, we applied for CENOMARs at the NSO in East Avenue. Second we applied for a certified true copy of D's baptismal and confirmation certificates at the San Rafael Church in Pasay City. Lastly we ended the day at Escolta, Binondo and Santa Cruz in the hopes of buying wedding bands only to come home empty handed because of my indecision! I had a difficult time picking a ring. You know the one which calls out to me with the words - "Pick me, choose me! I will look good on D's finger without drawing too much attention from certain bad elements of society!" =)
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