A NEW Guinness World Record has been set in Quezon City. On March 1, the National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. set the world record for the Most Variety of Pork Dishes on Display during the National Hog Festival.
The Guinness World Records, founded in 1955, is a reference for the world’s extremes: the most, the biggest, the longest. Some of their records that have involved the Philippines include a record for the most people brushing their teeth simultaneously (2007); and quite recently, the record for the largest human mattress dominoes (2335 in 2023). And most infamously, before the entry was placed under review (still accessible through https://tinyurl.com/3fmxktpm), the record for the greatest robbery of a government, set by dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
“The minimum is 300,” said Guinness World Records Official Adjudicator Sonia Ushiroguchi during the attempt to set the world record in Gateway Mall 2 in Araneta City. “Today, we have 341 dishes,” she said, which was greeted with cheers. However, she asked for a bit of quiet to make something clear — “We have 341 dishes that were submitted,” and this time, she was greeted with groans. “I know. I’m very happy that everyone is so passionate here. However, we have some disqualifications.
“Some of the dishes did not meet the guidelines. We have 28 dishes that did not meet the guidelines. So, with a total of 313, we have a new Guinness World Record! Congratulations!”
The crowd cheered, and Jan Buenaflor, Project Director for the National Hog Festival, the record attempt, and a member of the Ways and means Committee of the National Federation of Hog Farmers. burst into tears. In an interview with BusinessWorld, she said, “I am very, very happy. I’m actually [at a loss] for words.
“It’s very touching that we gathered all these people together to showcase their pork dishes. I’m very, very happy,” she said.
Participants included schools like National University – Dasmarinas, the University of Perpetual Help System, Perpetual Help College of Manila – College of International Hospitality Management, the Lyceum of the Philippines University – Manila, and the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, which collectively contributed 100 dishes.
Institutional partners like Robina Farms, Universal Robina, Del Monte, and restaurants such as Tung Lok Seafood, Mango Tree Café, Bacolod Chicken Inasal, Mesa, Tim Ho Wan, Pound Flatterie, Hawker Chan, Cabalen, Tindeli, and Vikings, also submitted entries.
Don’t ask us what we ate: we had more than 300 of them to go through.
Ms. Buenaflor said that the guidelines included using a minimum of three kilograms of pork per dish, multiplied by 313 (which comes out to 939 kilograms, a bit more than a ton of pork).
“The reason why we did this attempt is because we wanted really to showcase (not only) the culinary expertise of these people, but it’s because Filipinos love pork,” she said.
More than that, the world record attempt was made as an effort to revitalize the hog industry, in recovery since the African Swine Flu (ASF) outbreak in 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. “During ASF, talagang marami kaming nawalan ng hanapbuhay (a lot of us lost our livelihoods),” she said. “During the time when ASF happened, we really wanted to increase the per capita consumption of pork. Gusto naming manumbalik muli ang sigla ng pagbababoy (we want to return the vigor of hog raising),” she said.
In a story from BusinessWorld, “Pork inventory seen sufficient until first quarter of 2024,” it said that “Philippine pork production is expected to hit 925,000 metric tons representing a 5% downgrade of a previous forecast due to the continued presence of ASF in top producing regions,” according to the US Department of Agriculture. “We need more support, kailangan marami ulit ang mag-alaga (we need more people to raise pigs)… we have to do repopulation,” said Ms. Buenaflor.
Still, she said, “Walang imposible sa taong nangangarap ng bongga-bongga (nothing is impossible for a person with big dreams).”
Meanwhile, Ms. Ushiroguchi told BusinessWorld, “Any record that brings so many people together to work to make the world a more fun, positive, and interesting place deserves a place in the Guinness World Records.” — Joseph L. Garcia