Young star Jesusa Victoria G. Hernandez, a.k.a. Lani Mercado, met the brash young Jose Marie Bautista, a.k.a. Bong Revilla, when she was 14 and he was 15.
He had just come back from the U.S. and was set to join the world of Philippine showbiz, and he asked to be paired with her for a pictorial.
When she turned 16, they were allowed to go out on group dates, but theirs was an on-and-off relationship because of his playboy image. The relationship turned serious, however, when Lani became pregnant with their first child, Bryan.
The couple immediately had a civil wedding in Glendale, California. That simple ceremony took place on May 28, 1986.
Six kids and almost 12 years later, when the country celebrated the centennial year of the Philippine revolution, Bong Revilla and Lani Mercado decided to have a grand church wedding in the historic province of Cavite, birthplace of the Philippine Republic.