A new country will be featured each week, then archived. To the Filipinos, marriage is a sacred obligation of the children to their parents.
Parents teach their children to choose their lifetime partners carefully.
After winning his girlfriend s love in courtship, a suitor is required by custom to formally ask for her hand in marriage. This custom is called pamanhikan in the Philippines. In the pamanhikan , the suitor, together with his parents, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters, sets out to visit his girlfriend s family to formally announce his intention to marry. The suitor s family usually also takes along someone well respected or influential in the village whom they believe will be able to sway the girlfriend s family to accept the suitor. This is especially crucial if an important member of the girlfriend s family may object to their marriage.