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Posted by Lani on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
The local government of San Juan unrolled the purportedly “world’s longest buri mat” on Saturday, December 28, 2007. Though no definite measurement could be had from municipal employees, the mat was reported to be at least 4.2 kilometers long - extending from the Magsingal-San Juan boundary until Tarudtod. Did San Juan make a record this time? From information on the Internet, the town of Basey, Samar held the world record of the longest buri mat prior to San Juan’s second bid. San Juan’s 2007 mat, however, is way longer at more than 4 kilometers (Basey had about a kilometer- long mat).
The parade of the buri mat was stalled due to a glitch, where the mat was caught in one of the pair of large metal wheels that held the rolled mat. Spectators who saw it said the wheel had to be cut and then welded again right in the middle of the road - twice during the parade at that. People started gathering along the road at two o’clock in the afternoon to watch the parade and I lost count of the number of times that I went in and out of the gate to see if the is mat approaching. We waited for almost 3 hours and it was dusk when the parade passed by where we were. Honorable Mayor Benjamin Sarmiento and Vice Governor Jeremias Singson led the group that escorted the mat as it was being unrolled along the highway.
There is no independent group or body to certify whether San Juan, indeed, now holds the record of having the longest buri mat in the world. Unlike last year, where there were crews from local TV stations to cover the Buri Festival, this year, we only saw a crew from a radio station, but the shirts worn by those who participated in the parade certainly made the claim. The next question is, and someone actually posed this to me during the parade: what is the significance of having the longest buri mat to the people of San Juan? Do leave your two cents in the comments box, thank you!
nakakahiya nga ang nangyari jan sa burimat na yan!!! nasa papuntang Barbar pa lang sila, nakulkolen dayta nga kamen awanen ti tao nga nanguray ken dayta nga kamen, mano ti nagasto da wenno adu man ti naibulsa dan…
1 | dianne January 7th, 2008 at 4:11 pmThanks, Diane. So you were there, too. Such a shame, isn’t? Let’s be kind enough to the authorities concerned and understand why the 2nd Burifest was again poorly implemented. First, it was just the 2nd time, practice makes perfect. So we expect better performance next year and in the years to come - if there will still be a buri festival. Second, the committee in charge of the burifest must have been so stressed that it didn’t bother, or this simply didn’t cross their minds, to do a test run to check how the trailer would fare when it would have to ascend and descend Bessang Hill. Third, again, they probably didn’t have it in them to explore other alternatives of presenting the purportedly longest buri mat. What they could have done was to instead leave the trailer at the boundary and let the participants - who actually waited along the road for nearly three hours - pull the mat as it was being unrolled. Now, that would have been a grander way of presentation, with Lapoguenios proudly parading the mat from the Magsingal-San Juan boundary northward for all to see while there was still sunlight. With what happened, unrolling the mat became a nuisance to motorists; one even sent a text message to express their exasperation at how the event stalled traffic. Now that I think about it, it’s a good thing there was no TV coverage of the event.
2 | Lani January 7th, 2008 at 5:19 pmyes mas maganda sana kung ipinarada na lang ng mga barangay officials yng buri mat na yon kaysa yng trailer ang naglakad pa at tsaka nakita mo ba yong mga t-shirts nila, that costs Php 200 per t-shirt… nakakapanghinayang na gumastos sila ng t-shirt na ganun kamahal at ganun lang ang nangyari sa kanila… tshirts printed at the back are these things: “i found it”, “i am a witness”, “i was there”; i just don’t know what do they mean by these.. why is it the traditional costume ball was no longer existing in our town, sana naman mapaghandaan nila ng husto at maganda ang next december festival natin kasi we really missed the happenings there…
3 | dianne January 8th, 2008 at 3:33 pmSomewhere in San Juan the tallest person sleeps.
4 | arthur January 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pmThanks, Manong Arthur. Sleeping ala Rip Van Winkle, I would say, he he. No, even longer, for Rip slept only for twenty years.
5 | Lani January 18th, 2008 at 5:03 pmYa, what happened to the 2nd Buri festival, somebody should follow it up if you made it to the “World Guinness Record”. Lapoguenos, should be very proud including myself.
6 | Dolly January 26th, 2008 at 1:34 pmAs far as I know, the local government unit did not really file an application to break a world record. So the “longest mat” title (I think the San Juan 2007 buri mat indeed broke the record) is unofficial in so far as the Guinness Book of World Records is concerned.
7 | Lani January 27th, 2008 at 11:02 amCan’t they file an application now?
8 | Joy April 8th, 2008 at 3:39 pmHi, I was surfing the net and saw this site. Got me interested because I am a Lapoguena. I have not been home since 2005, but I get updates from my brothers and sisters. The longest mat thing is interesting and breaking a Guinness book record is a big thing for some but with due respect, I hope San Juan or Lapog will embark on projects which are truly worthwhile that could uplift (not cosmetically, of course) the image of the town, its officials and the life of townspeople. If I am asked where and what Lapog is, will I be proud to tell people that this is the town which wove the longest mat ? I miss the San Juan in my younger years when we as a town was more (2X..3x…) progressive than the neighboring towns…… when we already had nice municipal roads while the other towns still had its dusty road beside their municipal halls… when the municipal hall stood proud and awesome while the others were “balay style”… when I would look forward to “market Tuesday” because the market was full of people, goodies, vendors and all. I could enumerate a few more but lest I be tagged to be too critical, I have to stop. Good day.
9 | arlene u. prudenciado April 28th, 2008 at 3:58 pmWhy won’t the local government hold a contest for the most beautiful buri mat instead? It will enhance the buri weavers’ creativity, and it improve the quality of their product. Just a thought.
10 | Joy May 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pmGood idea, Joy. The LGU should instead focus its effort on helping promote local buri products through trade fairs held within San Juan. That will, at the same time, promote the town because they will be attracting visitors to come visit the place. Then there’s the issue of product development. There’s a lot more room for improvement, but let the LGU take small steps (I wish they would) and not get stuck with the idea of the longest mat. I hope we won’t see another gimmick of this kind this year. Something new and fresh, please, one that has a real, lasting effect on the productivity and profitability of our local buri industry.
11 | Lani May 29th, 2008 at 3:30 pm