Dubai: They were sweethearts in the early 80s — he was 20 and she was just 18.
Tomas “Jun” Tolentino Jr, a salesman, and Rowena “Weng” Macaraeg, a teacher, first hit it off in Manila’s Caloocan suburb, where they both grew up.
But they lost touch when Jun’s mother fell ill and his family migrated to Samar, 800km south.
“This was the pre-cellphone and SMS era, we were totally incommunicado,” said Weng, aged 47. When Jun showed up again two years later in 1986, Weng was already set to marry Tom’s childhood friend, Carlito, in a few days.
“I had accepted our fate. I was happy for her because she married my friend,” said Jun, 49, adding he even attended his friend’s wedding. “There were no hurt feelings. I knew she was in good hands.”
Weng gave Carlito five children, now aged between 14 and 25.
Jun had also found himself a wife, Winnie, who bore him two children, now aged 17 and 19.
Weng was widowed when Carlito was murdered in 2007.
“I didn’t see them for decades,” said Jun. “But as our families still knew each other, I learnt about Carlito’s death and I went to his wake.”
Then Jun’s wife Winnie died in an accident in 2009.
However, the romance was not rekindled.
In 2008, Weng left for Dubai to take up a job as a pre-school teacher at De la Salle Montessori in Mankhool.
During Weng’s vacation in 2010, they met again in Manila, and started texting and calling each other. After countless texts and Skype sessions they had a civil wedding at Quezon City Hall in April 2012. Jun was sponsored by Weng to join her in Dubai later.
Fast forward 27 years
On Monday Jun and Weng exchanged wedding vows at St Mary’s Church in Dubai.
They were part of 38 couples who got married at a mass wedding in the parish, which holds the annual tradition of providing church weddings to eligible couples or those who are have already undergone a civil wedding.
“I guess this is fate, this is God’s plan for us,” said Weng, in her white wedding dress she had custom-made in Sharjah.
“All throughout our lives, we were faithful to our partners. We raised our kids well. We moulded them in the same family values our parent taught us.”
Two of Weng’s children are now working as teachers in Dubai, while the others are still in school.
“Wala sa hinagap ko na magkita ulit o magpakasal kami” [Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine we’d see each other again, let alone marry her], said Jun.
The couple said they have no regrets about their past.
Both are now grandparents — Weng has two grandchildren while Jun has one.
Are they planning on having their own children?
“We’re quite old, but we’re not ruling anything out, though I imagine it would be a bit odd for our kids to be playing—or fighting—with our grandchildren,” said Weng.
The two are the oldest couple at the mass wedding, said Emolyn Bucsit, one of the 60 volunteers who organised the ceremony. Most couples were Filipino but there were others from India, Nepal and Africa.
