STO. TOMAS, Pangasinan, Philippines—Town officials here launched Saturday their Corn Festival by planting hybrid glutinous white corn variety, their prime product, as a prelude to their bid for the Guinness Book of World Records title for the longest barbecue by simultaneously grilling 130,000 corn ears in February when the town turn 100 years old.

Mayor Vivien Villar and Vice Mayor Timoteo Villar III led the people in demonstrating proper way of planting corn using “armalite”, made of tin sheet that looked like a long firearm where a corn seed is placed and then pressed when planted using double row technology in the 1.7 hectares farm lot owned by the local government unit. Other plantations whose corn produce will also be used for the Guinness bid are in barangays Sto. Domingo, San Jose and San Antonio.

The Guinness bid is the highlight of their town's 100 years founding anniversary on February 1 to 10 next year.

The corn planted Saturday will be harvested two days earlier in time to be used for the actual grilling on February 10, 2008 at 4:00 p.m.

But Vice Mayor Villar, chairman of the Corn Barbecue Festival, said they have prepared 300,000 corn ears for the actual grilling. There will be 2,028 grills made of bamboo, each measuring 2.4 meters long, to be set up from the town boundary in Rosales up to the boundary in Alcala town for the five- kilometer stretch roadline

About 1,500 sacks of charcoal will also be used for the grilling.

Also Saturday, the people had another dry-run with 90 grills using 2,000 corn ears to perfect their grilling when the big day comes. Fifth District Board Member Charizzma Salud Carancho and the mayor’s daughter, Marie Antonnette Villar-Pescador, former president of the Provincial Sangguniang Kabataan Federation, led the ceremonial lighting of the grills.

Crisanto Balila, municipal agriculturist, said what makes their corn planting unique is they are using certified organic farming which the town has been advocating for their prime produce of corn. Last February, they also harvested corn that used organic farming to show to all that it’s good for the health and the environment.

The last time that a Pangasinan held a Guinness title for longest barbecue was in 2003 when Dagupan City captured that crown from Peru using its famous product, bangus (milkfish).

The hybrid glutinous white corn is favorably produced here because of good irrigation system provided by President Gloria Arroyo. There are about 352 hectares devoted to corn planting here but this will increase to more than 600 hectares because of the ongoing multi million irrigation system here.

The corn grown here are sold in Villasis, Rosales, Bayambang, and in Moncada and Camiling in Tarlac province.

The mayor said they are hoping to wrest the Guinness title considering that they have prepared this big event for one year already.

She said the proceeds of their corn festival will be used for the modernization of the town’s health services as well as the improvement of their town’s high school named Antonio Villar Sr. Memorial High School.

Villar lauded her constituents, especially the barangay officials, for their unity and support as they voluntarily made the grills voluntarily.