Hundreds join mass weddings

Hundreds of Filipino couples took part in mass weddings yesterday to formalise their relationships two days ahead of Valentine’s Day.In Manila, 350 Filipino couples, including elderly couples, joined a ceremony presided over by Mayor Joseph Estrada in the predominantly Catholic country.“We want to legalise our union,” said Maria Teresa Ruiz, 66, who has been living with her partner Fernando Marcelo, 68, for more than five decades.Ruiz said they never thought of formalising their union because they were too busy raising their eight children.Mass weddings are an annual event in the Philippines before or on Valentine’s Day. The events are usually sponsored by local politicians or by the Catholic Church in order to legalise unions of couples who are too poor — or too busy— to get married.