In the Cebuano version of "Runaway Bride," here's a story of a runaway groom who gets sued by his bride-to-be. According to the news article, a civil case for damages and attorneys fees was filed yesterday against a man who left his bride-to-be waiting in the altar right before they were supposed to exchange their “I dos”.
Lilibeth Gaviola wants the Regional Trial Court (RTC) to compel her would-be husband, Ryan Sesante, to pay close to P500,000 in actual damages, including the expenses incurred for the wedding, moral damages and attorney’s fees.
She said the incident (their scheduled wedding last Dec. 22) left her feeling downgraded. Her “shameful story” appeared in the newspapers and became the subject of a few commentaries.
“Plaintiff has no more choice except to go to court and seek therein relief for the injustice and pain that she had suffered from the hands of defendant,” Gaviola said.
In her complaint, Gaviola narrated how she met Sesante back in college when they were classmates taking up accounting at the Southwestern University.
She said they graduated together and found work separately, meeting again accidentally only in December 2005 at the Saint Vincent Church in Barangay Sambag II.
Sesante, she said, courted her sometime after that and, by February 2006, they were sweethearts.
After a year of being steady, they then decided to get married, with Sesante asking Gaviola’s hand from her parents last June 17.
“The parties arranged for their wedding, starting with getting of the marriage license and church requirements, then arranging for the principal and secondary sponsors, place of reception, invitations and other details for the wedding. The reception was booked at Royal Concourse, with 100 persons reserved for the occasion. Invitations to relatives and close friends were made (as well as) video coverage of the wedding and reception,” she said.
In the morning of the wedding, Gaviola said she was at the Golden Peak Hotel together with her make-up artist, getting ready for the big day.
She, on board the bridal car, was already at the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish on Escario St. Cebu City 15 minutes before the schedule.
Sesante arrived half an hour late.
“Upon defendant’s arrival, his mother immediately wore the barong over him with his eyes seemed teary. Then, the wedding ceremony started with the priest harping on the delay as it commenced,” Gaviola said.
The ceremony, albeit a bit behind schedule, progressed without a hitch until the part where vows are exchanged.
She alleged that when the priest asked him if if he was willing to take Gaviola as her lawfully wedded wife, a girl wearing a skirt and eyeglasses shouted to the priest to stop the wedding and called out Sesante’s name twice.
Sesante, in turn, “without any hesitation or saying something or anything, turned his back and walked very fast toward the lady. They then hugged each other and went outside the church together.”
Gaviola said the priest even called out to Sesante, asking him to come back. And when he did not, the priest even went after him. But, to no avail.
In the end, the crowd proceeded to the restaurant for the banquet. She, on the other hand, went home with her parents, depressed.
This story sounds pretty much like a soap opera. But in all cases, I support Gaviola and hope that this groom pays for what he did to her.
(image from Keithandmelinda.com)
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