Congressman-Actor Arjo Atayde and Maine Mendoza finally had their premarital arrangements, or what is known as the Filipino tradition ‘pamamanhikan,’ last June 25 at Mendoza’s home.
This was made public by the mother of Atayde and award-winning actress Sylvia Sanchez via her Instagram featuring both families of the couple in one house.
Prior to this, Sanchez also posted a video where they were inside a private plane with the caption, “Off to a very important destination 😉😃😍💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺”
Shortly after, Sanchez posted another video where Mendoza came out of a house to greet the former.
The actress’ post earned many positive reactions from netizens and fellow showbiz personalities.
“Beautiful families…’pamalaye’ or ‘pamanhikan’ still there. Tradition lives on. A good start for both families. Good Luck and God bless,” one comment reads.
Another commented, “Pamamanhikan is one of the important tradition that we have in Bulacan. Congratulations to the future couple, Best Wishes.”
Despite already having their premarital arrangements, further details of the wedding still remain a secret to the public.
It will be recalled that Mendoza’s admiration for Atayde was first known through the tweet, “arjo cutie.” The tweet was posted exactly nine years prior to their engagement and trended on social media as something that manifested in reality.
Exactly five years after the tweet was made, the couple had their first meeting on the story conference of Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles on July 28, 2018. In the film, Mendoza played the role of a police officer and the leading lady of Coco Martin’s character, while Atayde played the role of a drug syndicate leader.
After their first meeting, netizens claimed seeing them together multiple times, thus igniting the dating rumors. They were once spotted wearing matching Halloween costumes at a bar in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.
Netizens also speculated that the couple were together on their vacation in Bali, Indonesia as revealed by their social media posts. In November 2018, the couple were spotted at the Mix 3 of 2018 concert featuring The Royal Concept, Bruno Major, Cigarettes After Sex, Urbandub, Jess Connelly, and UDD.
In the same month, Atayde was interviewed by ABS-CBN News Online regarding his love life which he described to be ‘happy.’ Prior to this, Mendoza also said a similar statement in her interview with PEP.ph and other reporters.
Later that year, Mendoza told at the Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles Press Conference that she and Atayde were “going out as friends” and were “getting to know each other first.”
Atayde finally revealed at the media conference for TOL in January of 2019 that they were exclusively dating. It was followed by Mendoza admitting their relationship on her blog in March 2019. The two have gone on to have a healthy relationship as shown in their spotted dates and Instagram posts.
The couple celebrated their first anniversary in December 2019 in a yacht, as posted on their Instagram accounts.
On their second anniversary, the two posted their beach trip together in December 2020 captioned with heartfelt messages to each other.
The two worked together again on the March 6 episode of the sitcom ‘Daddy’s Gurl,’ which Atayde described as memorable.
They returned to the yacht for a sunset picnic on their third anniversary in December 2021, as posted on their social media accounts.
During their relationship, the two attended together the weddings of Mendoza’s siblings.
After three or more years of dating, the two got engaged following Atayde’s garden proposal on July 28, 2022. Their engagement was made public on both Mendoza and Atayde’s Instagram accounts.
The two went on to have their Paris trip for Atayde’s birthday in November 2022 and their MEGA Entertainment Magazine cover appearance in June 2023.
