(via inquirer.net) It will be a scaled down wedding for Liberal Party vice presidential candidate Sen. Mar Roxas and his fiancee, broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez on Oct.27.

On radio and in a statement, Sanchez said on Tuesday that she and Roxas have decided to cancel the reception for the wedding and instead donate the money to charities and helping victims of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” and Typhoon “Pepeng.”

Sanchez and Roxas are set to wed at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City two weeks from now and had planned to hold the wedding reception at the Araneta Coliseum — which is owned by the Roxas and Araneta clan.

“We are hoping that our guests will understand why we are doing this,” Sanchez said in a statement. “It really does not feel right to be celebrating—no matter how important this date is for Mar and I — at a time of calamity and difficulty for a large number of our kababayans.”

In the same statement, Roxas said: “Matagal nga naming pinlano ni Korina at pinaghandaan ang espesyal na araw na ito. Gusto sana namin na marami ang kasalo sa saya. Pero parang hindi tama na malaki ang gagastusin sa selebrasyon sa panahon ng kalamidad. Napakarami nating kababayan ang naghihirap ngayon – lubog sa tubig baha. Pakikiramay at pagtulong na rin namin ito sa kanila.”

Sanchez, meantime, played down a wedding superstition that warns engaged couples against making too many changes in their wedding plans. The superstition considers it a bad omen.  She maintained that it is more inappropriate if she and her fiancé push through with the reception at the Araneta Coliseum in the midst of massive devastation wrought by the two tropical storms.

Speaking at dzMM radio, Sanchez said she and Roxas had set aside about P2 million for the reception.

She said the money will be donated to Caritas Manila, the Philippine National Red Cross, Sagip Kapamilya of ABS-CBN and Kapuso Foundation of GMA 7.

The two storms hit the country in a span of a week, bringing floods which devastated a large of swath of Metro Manila and parts of Northern Luzon.