My mom stopped a Sto. Niño procession and saved my wedding day

Part of a series on our moms—or about being a mom—for Mother's Day

Read the author's previous Mother's Day story: Spam fried rice: My mother’s multi-generational dish

Already sandwiched by the Chinese (Lunar) New Year the day before and the 2016 Miss Universe Pageant the day after, my wedding day—January 29, 2017—couldn’t even have a day for its own, as it turned out that the annual Santo Niño procession would occupy the main thoroughfare of Roxas Boulevard in the Manila/Pasay area.

My wedding to my now ex-girlfriend of more than 12 years, the former Cyreene Bautista, went without a hitch at the San Vicente de Paul Parish along San Marcelino Street, City of Manila. The wedding mass started at exactly 3:00 p.m. and all festivities like picture-taking ended by five in the afternoon.

Inside the bridal/wedding car, trouble immediately greeted us outside the gates of the church venue. Traffic along the four-lane stretch of San Marcelino was already crawling and things got worse with every street and corner that we passed. From San Marcelino, our chauffeur turned right on Quirino Avenue, left on Taft Avenue, right on Vito Cruz, and circled around Harrison Plaza, before getting stuck on F.B. Harrison Street for a good part of two hours.

The scheduled pictorials of us together with our entourage, families, and other relatives were slowly but surely being replaced with frantic phone calls for updates on where we were and where our family members were, what route they were being led through by Waze (wasn’t much of a help that day), and which guests were already at the reception venue, the Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

The author (standing, right) with his new wife and his parents. Photo: Dreamcatchers Photocinema

For those who aren’t familiar, crossing Roxas Boulevard to get to the Cultural Center of the Philippines, where Sofitel is located, can be done via either Vito Cruz Street or Gil Puyat Avenue (Buendia). As our wedding car made a right turn from Harrison Street to Buendia, the street “organizers” or traffic marshals were instructing vehicles to make a U-turn before Roxas Boulevard.

Not only was Buendia/Roxas Boulevard impassable, but the resulting traffic was causing unwanted stress and worries for me and my new wife. With the wedding vehicle’s hazard lights turned on, our driver decided to take his slim chances of halting the procession and try to pass through the sea of devotees. Those slim chances remained slim as he did not get out of the car. Neither did the traffic marshals realize that it was a bridal car that needed to get to the reception venue ASAP.

Enter my mother. It turned out that the vehicle she rented for our occasion was behind ours right from the moment we left St. Vincent de Paul Parish until the Roxas Boulevard/Buendia intersection.

Dressed in a long, bejeweled dress and in high heels, my mom, without any hesitation, jumped out of the vehicle and basically yelled at the people in charge, asking them to literally stop the procession briefly to let our vehicles through.

I have always been proud of my “mama,” but I couldn’t help myself during that moment to yell: “That’s my mother!” As our vehicles pulled over in the driveway of the reception venue, I quickly got off the left side of the car and gave my mom a quick kiss and a hug.

It was a moment of not only pride, but also respect and amazement towards the strong woman who gave birth to me, who nurtured me to become the man that I am today, and who will basically run through a sea of people for her loved ones.

Even though the reception and party started about two hours late, the next few hours were magical and memorable for all of our family, friends, and guests. Aside from sharing a delicious Chinese lauriat spread, every guest who braved the same traffic conditions from church to reception had their own unique and equally funny “war” stories.

Two very dear, Singapore-based friends together with two more very close female friends got stuck in an Uber ride for five hours, while some guests even had to drive as far as EDSA or NAIA Road just to cross Roxas Boulevard; but none of them saw first hand how my mother literally stopped a Sto. Niño procession to just to save my wedding day.

I love you mom!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, Susan, Amah (Mamerta), 2nd mom (Coco/Lucienne), new mom-in-law (Malou), sister-in-law Cly, and all my noble friends and relatives who are also mothers to their wonderful kids.