More than 5,000 Filipino couples set kissing record for Valentine's Day

MANILA, (AFP) - More than 5,000 Filipino couples kissed simultaneously for 10 seconds to welcome Valentine's Day and set a new world record, organizers said Saturday.

Organizers of the "Lovapalooza" in Manila, an attempt to break the record for most people kissing simultaneously in one area, said 5,122 smooching couples broke the old record set by 4,500 couples in the Chilean capital Santiago last year.

The end of the 10-second clinch in a public park, led by 62-year-old Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and his wife, was marked with a fireworks display that lit up the night sky moments into Valentine's Day.

Atienza had said the kissing event would be restricted to married couples, because of the Philippines' conservative Roman Catholic culture, but a casual check of participants found many of them were not married.

Organizers said they had not been told if the achievement had been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Source: Philippine Star