NSO insists on seminars for priests on wedding requirements

Despite resistance from the Archdiocese of Manila, the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday said it will push through with its seminars for priests on marriage processes and requirements. NSO administrator Carmelita Ericta cited errors in filling out marriage certificate forms and the proliferation of “instant marriage" ministers as the reasons for organizing the seminars. “Walang problema sa kasal ng Katoliko maliban sa maling pag-fill-up ng marriage certificate. May mga 55,000 na mali ang entries, isa yan sa tinuturo sa seminar. Di yan tinuturo sa seminaryo (We don’t have a problem with Catholic priests except in the filling up of marriage certificates. We discovered 55,000 of these certificates were wrongly filled up, which could be a criminal offense. That is what we will teach in the seminar and I don’t think that is taught in the seminaries)," Ericta said in an interview on dzBB radio. Ericta said the NSO will push through with its seminar on February 12 and 14 for priests at the Archdiocese of Manila. She said the NSO has so far trained 4,000 nationwide. According to her, the seminars cost from P900 to P2,400. Ericta also said the seminars stemmed from the problem of some “instant marriage" ministers making a killing out of selling their services. She said these “ministers" would loiter at City Hall and offer their services to couples. “Iniimbestiga namin kung may simbahan o congregation, nadiskubre namin ginagawa itong kalakal (We investigated these ministers to see if they belong to churches or congregations. We discovered it was just a business for them)," Ericta said. Ericta said the seminars serve as forums for the priests and the NSO to tackle the problem. But Fr. Ariston Sison Jr, parish priest of the Hearts of Jesus Parish in Quezon City, said the seminar can be shortened to one day. Sison said he attended one of the seminars in Cubao. “Ang binigay nila for two days kayang ibigay sa isang umaga. Marami sa tinuro nila, pag-file, mali ang data (Most of what they teach involves filing marriage forms correctly. But I noticed that what they teach in two days can be shortened to just one morning)," he said. “Kaming legitimate Catholic priests, dalawang buong araw was a waste of time (For us legitimate Catholic priests, two whole days was a waste of time)," he added. - GMANews.TV