MANILA (Reuters) - Couples in the Philippines hope to break a record set last year for a mass kissathon on the eve of Valentine's Day. About 5,300 kissing couples in Manila smooched their way into the Guinness Book of World Records in February 2004, surpassing the previous world best set in Chile by 4,445 pairs the previous month

"A million kisses, a million heartbeats and probably a million people falling in love for the second time around," toothpaste-maker Unilever Philippines, one of the organizers of the event, said. "The ambition is to beat last year's record," a spokeswoman said. Organizers of the Close-Up Lovapalooza 2 festival said the kissathon would take place along a 2-km (1-mile) stretch of boulevard beside Manila Bay and in three other big cities. Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, who led last year's event, is expected to spearhead this year's kissing festival at the stroke of midnight Saturday. "Couples will be asked to kiss again for 10 seconds, but if they want to extend, so be it," said a member of Atienza's office.