ONE of the most talked-about weddings this year was that of actor Bea Alonzo and Puregold scion Vincent Co.
Even I, who doesn’t really follow local entertainment goings-on and intrigues, got belatedly caught up in the seeming ‘will they’ or ‘won’t they [get married]’ quandary of the relationship gripping showbiz fans.
To wit, there were apparent relationship troubles earlier on, some of which had been attributed to other people close to the two main characters, then a supposed wedding in Spain finally set in May, thereafter an announcement of the wedding’s cancelation just days before the wedding date.
When almost everyone had believed that Bea and Vincent’s relationship was ultimately over, and the public re-engaged with the more pressing issue in the land-the Impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte-news broke out in July that the couple had gotten married in a civil ceremony presided by our favorite Makati Mayor Nancy Binay.
Unsurprisingly, controversy still hounded the now-married couple, which eventually culminated in the resignation of Bea’s long-time manager. A new manager for the actor was immediately announced, someone close to Vincent’s supermarket empire.
After that mala-teleserye season of intrigue, hopefully, Bea and Vincent can now live in peace and make rich, beautiful babies!
For sure, Bea and Vincent’s marriage is one of distinction, not because of who they are, but for the important step they had taken in the evolution of their partnership. Because according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), fewer Filipinos are getting married these days.
Its latest data showed that in the first two months of 2025, only 51,030 marriages were registered, down by a dramatic 53 percent from the same period in 2024. Even then, on an annual basis, there were 371,825 registered marriages in 2024, 10.23 percent less than in 2023. And prior to that, registered marriages were down by 7.84 percent to 414,213 in 2023 vis-a-vis in 2022.
The development is even more glaring over a 10-year period: registered marriages dropped by a sizeable 13.5 percent from 429,723 in 2014.
Why is this so? I can probably hazard a guess or two. Many young Filipino adults are putting off marriage as they invest more in their careers.
Consider our earlier mentioned couple: Bea is 38 and Vincent is 46. This is both their first marriage. Their formal coupling is a reflection of the later-marriage trend.
Data from the PSA indicated that the average age women married in 2024 was 27 years old, while men were in their 30s. In comparison, the average age of brides in the 1980s was 23-24 years old, while for grooms it was 26-27.
The kids have it easier these days. There are less societal pressures for them to get hitched.
When I was in my early 20s-a million years ago-the question I would get asked most by nosey relatives is, ‘When are you getting married?’
But by the time I turned 30, older new acquaintances, upon finding out I was still single, would then comment, ‘Good for you! Focus on your career first!’ Basically, ‘Go do you’ was their message.
billboards do the job socmed
These days, parents aren’t even that pushy and eager to get their children hitched, even if the latter are already in the so-called marrying age.
I listen to the conversation of my friends and family members, and most of them are interested in the single younger person’s career. ‘What’s your daughter doing these days?’ Or, ‘Where is your son working?’
Besides, life is generally difficult, so, frankly, how can anyone take care and be responsible for another person, or for each other?
So parents would rather their kids push their careers more so they can earn enough to buy a car, a house, then get married. This is especially true for daughters.
Society no longer expects women to go the traditional route of graduating from college, working some, then getting married and raising a family. Many parents realize they didn’t spend so much money to send their daughters to college just for them to look for a husband.
So as more women pursue higher studies and look at their careers as a strategy to achieve financial independence, they are getting less interested in tying the knot while they are young.
Of course, the downside of this is that as young Filipinos put off marriage, the chances of older couples getting pregnant is lower.
No judgement here: Science suggests that the biological peak for women’s fertility is between the ages 20 and 29. By the time women hit 30, fertility slows, and they may need medical help to become pregnant.
Outside of the medical route, which can be very, very expensive, later-married couples also have the option to adopt. God knows how many unwanted children are in orphanages just waiting to be adopted by kind couples.
At the end of the day, marriage is a deeply personal choice-and there should be no timetable for it. Some find their partners in their 20s, others in their 30s or 40s, and some decide that marriage simply isn’t for them.
What matters is that the decision is made freely, and not because Auntie Linda has been super kulit and nagging about your single status at every family reunion.
So, best wishes to Bea and congratulations to Vincent! After all the twists, turns and plot developments worthy of a drama anthology, they finally got their happy ending.
And perhaps that is the real lesson here: Marriage may be happening later for Filipinos, but it certainly hasn’t gone out of fashion. People are simply taking their sweet time getting there-hopefully, with a little more financial security, a lot more maturity, and, if they’re lucky, the right person beside them.
As for the babies? Well, that’s another story. Let’s leave that one to Bea and Vincent-and to God, science, or whichever works first.