An enduring love story

LOS ANGELES, CA. — There never was a dry eye that night witnessing a beautiful celebration of love.

David Bunevacz and Jessica Rodriguez have been married for 10 years. On Oct. 10 at the poolside of The Peninsula in Beverly Hills here, they opted to celebrate the special day by choosing to renew their marriage vows in the presence of a handful of their closest family and friends.

The weather was perfect and the ceremony was heartfelt. It was elegant, yet simple. It was solemn, yet candid. The beautiful couple, hounded by years of controversies, took their vows with tears in their eyes. They were surrounded by their loved ones who individually felt special simply by being part of the occasion.

It was very emotional for David and Jessica and their guests. The prayers, the vows and the speeches made were all coming from the heart. There never was a dry eye in the audience. Just about everyone present has knowledge of what the couple had to go through in the past three years. They were as much a part of the painful process that brought David and Jessica to struggle and rebuild their lives after leaving the Philippines in 2007 under a cloud of cruel suspicions from their business adversaries.

At the wedding, it was as if everyone was taking personal pride for what David and Jessica have accomplished in so short a time, against all odds. Seeing them promise to be together forever and to love one another through whatever else life would care to throw their way, it was such a powerful scene.

David said, “There is a reason for everything. And what you can find here are the very reason for my life,” and he said this while looking adoringly at his beautiful wife Jessica standing quietly beside him and their children Hayca, Grant and Breanna were sitting in front row overwhelmed with emotions as well.

“They are the reasons why I work hard, why I want to excel and succeed. They are the reason why I breathe,” David continued. He promised Jessica that their love will last forever and that he will continue to be faithful to her for all of their lives. He also paid tribute to his wife who has stood beside him through thick and thin, telling her that tomorrow will be even better.

A tearful Jessica, for her part, said to David, “You put me on a pedestal, you treat me like a queen, and yes, you are my knight in shining armour. Endlessly I will love you, continuously I will pray with you, through it all I will stay with you no matter what…I know I don’t hold the future, but I promise to fully submit myself to you as your wife and to forever love you, with all that I have, and all that I am. It is my desire to give you only the best of me. I will do everything for you, Hayca, Grant and Breanna and whoever else God gives us...,” she said while we can hear everyone sniffle.   

This is the fourth time that the couple got married. They were first married in civil rites here also in California 10 years ago on Oct. 12, 2000. It was followed by a grand church wedding on Dec. 9 of the same year at The NBC Tent in Makati. On their fifth anniversary, the two got married again in simple Christian rites in Tagaytay City.

David has promised Jessica, the love of his life, that he will marry her every five years just to prove to her how much he loves her. “I want her to never lose the feeling that she is always cherished by me. I want her to always feel like a bride all throughout our marriage,” David told us.

Jessica looked so lovely in her simple Monique Lhuillier gown while David looked as dapper and debonair in his Gucci suit.

Their respective families came in full force. David’s parents Joseph and Filomena Bunevacz and his sister Desiree and her husband were there. Jessica’s Texas-based father Bobby Rodriguez and his wife and their children were all there as well. Jessica’s reconciling with her long-lost father was one of the things she is thankful for in her “new” life in the US. “We got in touch again after a very long time and everything turned out so well. I got together with him and my other siblings. There is nothing like family, really,” the woman with a heart of gold said.

Among the couple’s close friends who attended the special occasion were Patricia Javier (who now goes by the name Genesis Walcher) and her chiropractor-husband Rob and their little boy; beautifully-pregnant Krista Ranillo and her new husband, businessman Niño Lim, GMA executive Wilma Galvante who stood as the only sponsor in the wedding, close friends of the couple Shirley Pizarro of Bulletin and GMA’s Lhar Santiago, producer Aida Arceo, and Antoinette Taus, among others. Tom Taus was the night’s music guru, having picked beautiful songs to play during the night.

Wilma, who also stood as a sponsor during David and Jessica’s grand wedding in Manila 10 years ago, gifted the couple with a rare DVD of their second wedding which was shown on GMA 7 way back then. “I have asked some people from GMA to put this together so you will have a copy of this beautiful wedding also in your library,” she said.

Niño, Jessica’s best friend, offered a toast for the couple and celebrated their life. He said that the reason why their relationship remains strong despite all the trials is because the marriage is God-centered. The Christian wedding was officiated by Pastor David White.

David and Jessica’s story is a tale of love, enduring and uplifting. They proved that to everyone in 10 years.