I CEDE my column space to Deputy Executive Secretary Agustin Dizon, a retired Justice of the Court of Appeals. Here is his privilege speech during the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Boy and Monette Enriquez on July 23, 2010 at Palazzo Royale in Angeles City.

Friends, ladies and gentlemen:

By and large, tonight’s affair is a story of love. It’s a love that must have begun somewhere in time or in the past lives of the celebrants, according to Hindu or Buddhist belief. As Boy and Monette have loved each other in their past lives, in their present life they are again together as lovers performing their role as husband and wife. Their closeness and love for each other have intrigued me no end. I said to myself: Bakit kaya? Digging for a reason anchored in the bible as to their close relationship, I found nothing. However, as I am really serious in my search for an answer to my question, my inquisitiveness brought me to inquire from the New Koran where I found an answer. It says, “The person of a man is only a mask which the soul putteth on for a reason; it weareth its proper time and then is cast off, and then another is worn in its stead… I tell of a truth that the spirits which now have affinity shall be kinder together although they all meet in new persons and names.” This passage from New Koran must have inspired Ralph Waldo Emerson – considered by many as the wisest American who ever lived – to make a statement that “souls who were closely related in their past lives tend to gravitate or come closer to each other in their present lifetime.”

Whether or not there is truth in what the New Koran says about the tendency of spirits or souls who were lovers in their past lives to come together again does not matter much to me tonight. What matter most to me is that, as a friend of the celebrants, I must profess my moral duty to congratulate them and extend my best wishes for a job well done as husband and wife.

Boy and Monette deserve not only my congratulations and best wishes but also of everybody in tonight’s affair – a celebration of their golden wedding anniversary. It is a great privilege and an honor for a couple to live together as husband and wife for 50 long years. In my view, it is a great blessing from Almighty God usually granted to a select few only. If at all, through God’s grace and blessing, I will become a lawmaker, I will author a bill to become a law that will grant incentive benefits to those who are able to reach their Golden Wedding anniversary which can be in a form of a cash gift or free hospitalization and medicine. This measure becoming a law may go a long way in promoting and encouraging continuing love and fidelity between spouses and family solidarity as well. If we strengthen family ties, in effect we will be strengthening our nation. As it has been said the strength of any nation lies on the strength of the families comprising the nation. The great Roman Empire collapsed not because of external aggression but due to the disintegration of the families comprising the empire because of sexual immorality and sinful activities.

Anywhere else in the world, or specifically on planet earth referred to by George Bernard Shaw as the “lunatic asylum of the solar system”, most marriages end up before the 50^th year by divorce, annulment or death of either spouse. That seems to be the general rule and this could hardly be disputed. Boy and Monette, at the start of their marriage, did not want or never wanted at all to term their marriage for a few years only. What their desired is to live together as spouses as many years as could be possible for better or worse, for richer or poorer and in sickness and in health till death do them part. As they endeavored and prayed for such privilege to be accorded them, Almighty God has been gracious enough to grant them the same. And that is why we are here tonight not only to celebrate but, most importantly, to thank the Lord for his everlasting magnanimity in granting the desire of their hearts.

As man proposes and God disposes, in my view not everything that a man would want and pray for will be granted by Almighty God. He must have a justifiable reason in praying for anything and that, before it will be granted, he must, above all, deserve what he prays for.

In praying for a successful marriage, we must have a formula acceptable by God.

Famous man and women who ever succeeded in reaching their golden wedding anniversaries seems to differ in their formulas. Due to time constraint, let me just cite the separate formulas of two famous men, namely Henry Ford of the automobile fame and Albert Einstein – chosen by the time magazine as the “Man of the 20th Century” who was rated above Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa of Calcutta. When ask for a formula for success by a reporter during his golden wedding anniversary, Henry Ford said that he applied the same formula in making cars. Just stick to one model. Albert Einstein, however, said that when he and his wife got married, they had an agreement that he will make all the major decisions and that his wife the minor ones. They were guided by their said agreement during their marital life but the strange thing, according to him during the celebration of their golden wedding anniversary, is that he realized no major decision has yet been made.

What about ordinary men and women who likewise have succeeded in reaching their golden wedding anniversary? I believe, separately, they also have their own formula for successful marriage. A typical formula was one offered by an old lady: Never think of getting a divorce or annulment of marriage. Let love be the dominant and prevailing factor in your martial life. At this juncture, I am reminded of an old lady who was asked by a reporter this question: “During all these many years, have you ever thought of a divorce?” She answered, “Divorce never, but murder yes! But my love for my husband prevailed.”

Summing up and after so much study, meditation and reflection on the formulas offered by those whose successful marriages I studied whether they were famous or not, I believe all of them were anchored on love. What made their marriage click for a long, long time ‘till death do them part is their strong and unwavering love of the spouses for each other. There can be no doubt therefore that a strong and unwavering love by the spouses for each other will result in a happy and successful marriage. As it has been said: “It takes two to make a marriage a success and only one a failure.”

According to a wise thinker and writer, there are 10 keys to a successful marriage. Stated otherwise, to succeed in marriage, the magic is to love each other in 10 ways as follows:

            Talk with each other.

Tell each other “I Love You!”

Touch each other.

Tantalize each other.

Tolerate each other.

Trust each other.

Treat each other.

Treasure each other.

Thank each other.

Track each other.

I do believe Boy and Monette love each other very much and they know very well the 10 keys to a successful marriage I just mentioned which they must have observed and practiced. Boy is one lover who can truly say to Monette: “Kung ako’y mamatay at muling mabubuhay, ikaw pa rin ang aking iibigin!” Monette, in response, can say just like Elizabeth Barett Browning: “I love thee with thee breath, smiles and tears of all my life. If God chooses, I shall but love thee better after death.”

Not even death can stop the love of Boy and Monette to each other. If the Hindu and Buddhist doctrine of rebirth is true, as they could have been spouses who have loved each other in their past lives, they will continue to love each other in their next lifetime. British philosopher Fielding Hall explained it well when he said “Love is stronger than death. It leaves on from incarnation. No religious philosophy, nothing in this world, nothing in the next shall prevent him who loves from certainty of rejoining the soul he once loved. For sure, there will be a reunion.”

Let me end up by making a request. With your indulgence, may I humbly ask everybody to please stand up and offer a toast to Boy and Monette. Let us all say cheers to Boy and Monette. May you live as long as you can! And may you can as long as you live!