Caloocan eyes Guinness record for largest mass wedding

MANILA, Philippines - Caloocan City is planning to submit records documenting the mass wedding of 2,664 couples last Saturday, an official said yesterday.

The “ceremony (had) the largest (number of) participants so far for a Valentine’s Day mass wedding, so the mayor is planning to endorse it for the Guinness,” Jerome Paonan of the city’s public information office said.

Mayor Enrico Echiverri, who officiated the mass wedding, said he did not expect the huge turnout, but noted that every year, more and more couples take part in the city government-sponsored Valentine’s Day mass wedding.

The oldest couple who tied the knot during the mass wedding were Armando Silva Sr., 76, and Maria Macaranas, 71, of Barangay 176 in Bagong Silang. They have seven children.

This year’s ceremony was also held to mark Caloocan’s 47th year as a city.

“Your commitment as legally married couples is to take care of your family and be responsible parents and citizens – this is how to reform,” Echiverri told the couples.

The activity was organized by the local Civil Registry Department and attended by around 6,000 residents at the Glorietta Park in Tala.

City Civil Registrar Luchi Flores said Echiverri tasked her office to facilitate the birth registrations of the couples’ children. – Pete Laude