MAGALANG -- With 4,000 kilos of fresh tilapia specifically prepared for the occasion and two kilometers of iron grills lined up with 350 large sacks of charcoal, government officials and students were set to accomplish what could be the longest tilapia grilling event in the country.

Governor Eddie Panlilio and the officials of the 437th Aldo Ning Kapampangan Executive Committee led the Longest Tilapia Grill Festival, one of the highlights of the Pampanga Day celebrations, at the Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC) here last Wednesday.

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According to Aldo Ning Kapampangan committee chairman Andy Gulapa, the event aims to promote the tilapia industry potential of the province and focus more attention on the booming fishpond business.

"This event is also in honor the tilapia industry that has given enough jobs and revenue among our local folks," he said.

Gulapa said the event was initially a daunting task. "Where to get the tilapia for the grilling was the first problem."

"Fortunately, Land Bank of the Philippines gave us around 5,000 pieces of tilapia along with the appropriation for the province and some more from the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources," Gulapa said.

PAC president Honorio Soriano told Sun.Star that 2,700 students of the state college, along with the 400-strong faculty, have manned the two-kilometer grill from the main gate of the campus, which stretched until the forestry building and snaked through the administration building of the state college.

Just before the grilling started, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional director Remedios Ongtangco hailed the province's contribution to promote another "staple food" of the country.

"The tilapia has attained folk popularity and is embedded in our pop culture as truly a Filipino produce. The tilapia has formally replaced the galungong as a staple food in most Filipino homes," Ongtangco said.

The BFAR director said that Pampanga is the number one producer of tilapia in the country.

Pampanga serves almost 85 percent of the total supply in Luzon and accounts for more than 86,000 metric tons of the tilapia production in 2007.

Most of the tilapia growers in the province are located in the wetlands of Candaba, Samuan, Masantol, Lubao, and Guagua while man-made ponds are also common in Magalang, Sta. Rita, and Arayat.

College, high school, and elementary students braved the mid-morning and noontime sun during the grilling that started around 9:30 a.m.

Soriano said the event perfectly fits the state college's advocacy of developing local agricultural produce and products as potential livelihood.

For her part, Ongtagco said the event is "a jumpstart" to what could be an entry to the Guinness World Records on the longest Tilapia Grill.

"We have had two attempts now. By the third, we hope to actually make it to a world record and be recognized worldwide," she said.

The PAC students had a field day, as each would grill their own tilapia for the prospect of taking them home.

Lourdes Singian, 12, an elementary student in a nearby school, said she learned about the festival from friends and decided to join in the event.

"It was fun, but it was really hot since we grilled under the sun," Singian said as she was walking home with a bundle of the grilled tilapia wrapped around sheets of paper.

Many other small kids in their school uniforms were seen walking home with their free grilled "take out" fish. (Ian Ocampo Flora)

For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete.

(December 4, 2008 issue)
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