This time, rains spoil the fun at bangus grill

DAGUPAN CITY — Last year, charcoal ran out. This time, heavy rains poured. Nevertheless, Speaker Jose de Venecia hopes the downpour was a blessing to this city’s second Guinness bid for the world’s longest grill.

The rains spoiled the fun as Dagupeños, in high spirits, manned portions of the 1,000-meter long bangus grill along A. B. Fernandez Avenue, which everyone hopes would outdo Peru’s existing record of 613 meters.

But Dagupan Mayor Benjamin Lim was thankful that the downpour came just as the documentation of Kalutan ed Dagupan (Grill in Dagupan) was over.

Asked if the rains affected the grilling, Lim said, "In a way, it did, but the people didn’t go home."

What’s important, Lim said, is that the grilling was uninterrupted for 30 minutes before the rains poured.

"It was properly documented (from the time) we lighted the charcoal," he said.

Grilling kicked off at 5:15 p.m., a 15-minute delay from the original schedule, and was led by De Venecia, Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon, Ilocos Sur Rep. Imee Marcos, Pangasinan third district Rep. Generoso Tulagan, Lim and other Dagupan officials.

It took the grillers some 30 minutes to torch the charcoal, and the grilling of an initial 10 pieces of bangus from 6 to 6:20 p.m.

Heavy rains poured from 6:30 to 8 p.m., forcing the crowd to disperse. But Lim said they "returned till 1 a.m."

He said a surveyor duly attested by a Department of Environment and Natural Resources representative and other witnesses certified the completed documentation — photos, video footage and aerial shots — based on Guinness guidelines.

The documentation will be sent immediately to London for evaluation by Guinness officials, whose decision will be known within 45 to 60 days.

Lim said he now feels fulfilled because after several months of preparations for Kalutan ed Dagupan, the city folk "have a sense of pride."