‘I guess she’s really in love’
SILANG, Cavite—Mon Soledad, uncle of Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad, said he was initially against his niece marrying Pasig City Representative Roman Romulo too soon—only four months after the couple got engaged.
Shalani, 31, and Roman, 44, met in July and got engaged in September. Roman is the son of former Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and Rosie Lovely Tecson-Romulo.
“I was hoping she’d get married after the 2013 elections [Shalani was said to be planning to run for Congress], but she just couldn’t be dissuaded. I guess that meant she’s really in love,” Mon told Inquirer Entertainment shortly before the wedding ceremony at St. Benedict Church in Ayala Westgrove here on Sunday.
Mon and wife Edith had been Shalani’s guardians while her mother, Evelyn, worked as a flight attendant and, later, as a caterer at a hotel in Kuwait.
Shalani met her biological father, former Banco Filipino chair Adolfo Aguirre, only in 2010.
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Mon, a former Valenzuela councilor, recalled the day, Dec. 8 last year, when Shalani sought permission about the wedding. “She pleaded, ‘Sige na Tito Mon. Mabait si Roman.’ I justcouldn’t turn her down.”
Evelyn recounted that Roman asked for her daughter’s hand in marriage “only three weeks after we were formally introduced. I cried … I couldn’t believe it was happening so soon,” she said during the reception held at the dockside of the nearby Nuvali Evoliving Center. “But I know he’s sincere and he really loves Shalani.”
Evelyn’s message to the groom: “It hurts to know that I’m losing my princess, so take care of her, Roman. I may be losing a daughter, but I’m gaining a son.”
In his speech, Roman’s father said he was “entranced and charmed (by Shalani’s) beauty and endearing sensibility.” The senior Romulo described Shalani and Roman as “the perfect couple … a match made in heaven.”
Actor Richard Gomez—whose wife, Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez, was one of the gospel readers during the Mass—said he was “happy for the couple.” His advice to the newlyweds: “Prioritize your family. Everything else should come second.”
TV5 creative and entertainment head Perci Intalan said, “All of us [in the network] wish Shalani and Representative Roman the best. Shalani is a sweet and a truly lovely kapatid. She definitely deserves to live ‘happily ever after.’”
Also present during the ceremony were TV5 chair Manny V. Pangilinan, one of the principal sponsors, and network chief operating officer Bobby Barreiro. Some 150 TV5 personnel were deployed to cover the ceremony, as well as the reception.
The couple’s 700 guests were mostly from the political and business sectors. Among the show-biz personalities spotted were Valerie Concepcion, Marco Alcaraz, Precious Lara Quigaman, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and his wife, Bacoor Rep. Lani Mercado. Broadcaster Karen Davila and magazine editor Anton San Diego hosted the party, along with Roman’s brother Erwin and radio talk show host Gang Badoy.
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