SENATOR Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III married chef Kathryna Yu last Thursday, with President Duterte as one of their principal sponsors.
Pimentel married his long-time partner in a civil wedding at the Coconut Palace in Manila. The ceremony was officiated by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
Duterte, who came from a speaking engagement at the 44th Philippine Business Conference and Expo at the historic landmark Manila Hotel, attended the wedding.
A partymate of Pimentel at the administration PDP-Laban, the Chief Executive is a principal sponsor, or “ninong,” of the couple. Also among the principal sponsors were Senate President Vicente “Tito” C. Sotto III and his wife Helen Gamboa-Sotto, Sen. Manny Pacquiao and wife Jinkee, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, and Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go.
Pimentel’s other colleagues in the majority bloc, Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sonny Angara, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Gregorio Honasan, Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, and Cynthia Villar also graced the wedding. His allies in the House of Representatives were also present.
Photos taken from the event showed that foreign dignitaries were also invited, including United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua.
Members of the Cabinet were also seen in the wedding such as Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, and Solicitor General Jose Calida.
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and former Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa were also among the guests.
Pimentel and Yu have been a couple for five years since meeting in a victory party hosted by the senator after winning the 2013 midterm elections.
Pimentel, in his vow, thanked Yu for “electing” him as her husband, as he quipped that “this is the only election I really want to win.”
“I have loved you all these years. I may not have verbalized this, because you know, I’m a man of few words, but I hope you felt my love and genuine concern for you, in one way or another. Kath, you will always be my baby girl, until our baby girl actually arrives,” he told Yu.
Yu promised Pimentel to be “patient with the course of our marriage.” Yu added, “And I promise that you will never be have to be alone in facing the challenges of your life.”
Pimentel, who will seek another term in the Senate in next year’s elections, filed his Certificate of Candidacy at the Commission on Elections main office in Manila early last Oct. 11 to focus on his wedding with Yu.
He was first married to Jewel May Lobaton and their marriage was annulled last January. Pimentel and Lobaton had two children. (Vanne Elaine P. Terrazola)
