Not even death could keep them apart. Inside a church in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, Monday, a tearful Argie Gulipato walked down the aisle in a white wedding dress, surrounded by equally tearful friends and relatives. But it was no ordinary wedding, for it also doubled as a funeral for the groom, 30-year-old John Caniban, one of the journalists slain in last week's grisly massacre in Maguindanao province. Argie was all set to marry Caniban this month. All the wedding preparations were in place; in fact, the two had already signed the documents for their marriage license two months before he was killed. The couple's plans, however, tragically ended when John, along with other journalists, members and friends of the Mangungudatu clan were brutally massacred in Ampatuan town on Nov. 23. John was one of five staffers of Periodico Ini, a Koronadal City-based weekly newspaper, killed in the mass slaughter. Argie said she has long hoped that John, with whom she has an eight-month-old daughter, would take her to the altar. So even though their wedding Monday was not what they had in mind, the bride said the ceremony was still “a dream come true.” “We wanted to have the wedding celebrations this December,” Argie said in Cebuano in an interview. “I'm happy and fulfilled.” Pastor Ed Gabuat of the Miracle of Life, a Born-Again Christian church, said tears were rolling down the faces of everyone in attendance when they saw the bride, who was carrying her baby, walk toward the altar with her groom's coffin being pushed beside her. “It was difficult for me asking Argie and John about their vows. I don't know what to say,” said Pastor Ed in a separate interview. He even shrugged off the fact that the rite performed was incomplete. “The groom has not said his ‘I do.' But I performed the ceremony as this was really the plan of Argie and John.” “During the wedding ceremonies that I presided, we witness vows being made as we pray for the couples. But Argie and John's case was different. This was my first time,” he said. “I was crying. I just can't look at the couple,” added Pastor Ed. After the wedding, John was finally laid to his rest at a cemetery in Isulan town. John was one of the 30 journalists, mostly from General Santos City and Koronadal City, who joined the convoy of Genalyn Mangudadatu, wife of Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu, in filing his certificate of candidacy at the Maguindanao provincial election office in Shariff Aguak town. While on their way to Shariff Aguak, they were waylaid by a group of armed men along the highway in Ampatuan town, and were brought to Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, where they were killed.
