Estrada breaks vow, attends weddings

If not for the fact that one wedding involved the daughter of a trusted Cabinet man and another the son of a loyal general, President Estrada would have never broken his vow not to accept any more invitations as sponsor.

But he did, standing as principal sponsor yesterday in the wedding of the only daughter of Health Secretary Alfredo Romualdez.

Also last night, the President stood as sponsor in the wedding of the son of Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Angelo Reyes, Angelito Reyes, and Joan de la Fuente.

Mr. Estrada decided to attend the wedding ceremonies, which were held a few hours after the bombing attacks in Metro Manila.

The President motored to the wedding rites at the San Sebastian Church in C.M. Recto, arriving late after pre-taping his television message condemning the spate of bombings that left at least 11 people dead.

The wedding of lawyers George Aquino and Brigida Romualdez was originally set at 4 p.m. but the President arrived at about 5 p.m.

Mr. Estrada’s co-sponsors included Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who is presiding in his impeachment trial.

Davide did not attend the ceremonies but sent a representative, the same way he did for the Rizal Day rites in Luneta earlier in the morning. — Marichu Villanueva