A beaming bride defiantly marching up a flooded church aisle in Bulacan won hearts as many areas were soaked with monsoon rains.
Jobel de los Angeles, 24, married the father of her two children on Saturday as Tropical Storm Karding (Yagi) and the southwest monsoon brought heavy flooding to Manila and nearby areas.
In a Facebook video shared over a thousand times, De los Angeles is all smiles as she walks through brown floodwaters in a white gown and veil before her suited groom clad in flip-flops takes her to the altar.
“Even if it floods or it rains, nothing can stop me. You only get married once, will you postpone it? I was marrying the man I love,” she told Agence France-Presse by phone.
“My gown got wet and heavy but I told myself it was as if I was walking on a red carpet.”
The Philippines endures an average of 20 typhoons and storms each year.
The latest storm brought misery to many, with 20,000 residents fleeing the riverside district of Marikina City where floods swept away cars, authorities said.
De los Angeles said she and her partner of seven years did not expect bad weather but never considered calling off their wedding even after floodwaters entered the church in Hagonoy town.
It was a double ceremony, with their five-month-old daughter baptized in the same event, she added.
Guests were photographed barefoot, including children who were afraid to slip.
“No car wanted to bring us to the church so I just rode a boat. We didn’t expect so many people would still turn up, even the entourage.”
AFP