Longest in the Philippines

[neilski "mr.pogi"]

Longest Serving Editor in the World

Sy Yinchow, an 84-year-old Filipino-Chinese journalist living in Manila's
Binondo district, is perhaps the world's longest-serving, living
editor-in-chief of daily newspapers. As of 2003, Sy was still serving
the chief editor of the United Daily News, a leading Chinese-language
daily in the Philippines. He has been an editor-in-chief of Manila-based
publications for 58 years since 1945, surpassing the record of Sir Etienne
Dupuch who had served as the editor-in-chief of the Nassau Daily
Tribune in the Bahamas for only 53 years from 1919 to 1972.

Aside from his colorful journalism career, Sy has written 20 books and
translated over 100 English and 72 French poems into Chinese. He is
an honorary president of the Hong Kong-based World Association of
Chinese Writers and a fellow of the International Writing Programme
of the University of Iowa.


Longest Barbecue in the World

On April 30, 2002, about 50,000 people participated in the
"Kalutan ed Dagupan" festival in Dagupan City (Pangasinan province,
Northern Luzon, Philippines) to help grill and partake of the 1,001-meter
long barbecue, that broke the previous World Record of 613 meter-long
barbecue grilled in Canchia, Peru on November 13, 1999.

The people of the city used hundreds of grills, each measuring 1.2-meter
long, to cook the barbecue. The grills' total measure was about 800 meters
long, enough to surpass the Peruvian record. The barbecue consisted of
bangus (milkfish), pork, chicken, vegetables and cold cuts. A video footage
was sent to the Guinness Book of World Records for validation.
(Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)


Longest Mat in the World

The people of the agricultural town of Basey, Samar own the distinction
of having weaved the world's longest mat, or "banig" in the local parlance.
During the town's Banigan-Kawayan Festival on September 29, 2000,
hundreds of people paraded the mat, which extended for more than a
kilometer.

The one-meter wide mat has been weaved for several weeks by groups
of people from the different barangays of Basey. While the mat was not
submitted as an entry to the Guinness Book of World Records, Basey
Mayor Wilfredo Estorninos described the feat as a source of pride for
all Basaynons.

Each year, the town, which has weaving as its prime industry, comes to
life when it celebrates outlandishly the feast of St. Michael, its patron saint.
The highlight of the feast is the Banigan-Kawayan Festival, where the
women of Basey weave a variety of intricately designed mats from sedge
grass locally known as tikog (Fimbristylis milliacea). This tradition was
handed down from many generations. The Church of Basey was built in
1864.


Longest Bridge in the Philippines

The country's longest bridge is the San Juanico Bridge, a steel structure
connecting the islands of Samar and Leyte. Built in 1973 under the Marcos
administration, the 2.16-kilometer bridge crosses over the picturesque
San Juanico Strait as a part of the Maharlika Highway. Also known as
Marcos Bridge, San Juanico Bridge has 43 spans rising 41 meters above
the sea. Bunton Bridge in Cagayan province is said to be the country's
second longest bridge.

The title of the longest bridge, however, may soon belong to a bridge,
which will be built in the Manila Bay. This cable suspension bridge will link
Metro Manila to the provinces of Bataan and Cavite. It will be patterned
after the Tokyo Bay Aqualine, which connects Kawasaki City in Kanagawa
Prefecture to Kisarazu City in Japan.

Among the longest bridges in the world are the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
in New York, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the East Bridge-Great
Belt Fixed Link in Denmark, the Hoga Kusten in Sweden, and the
Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong.

[neilski "mr.pogi"]

Longest Traffic Buildup in the Philippines

On the night of May 26, 2003, the northbound and southbound lanes of
the North Luzon Tollway from Bocaue, Bulacan to Balintawak, Quezon City
turned into a parking lot of thousands of vehicles trapped in floods. Rains
induced by tropical storm Chedeng caused the garbage-infested Malhacan
River in Meycauayan to rise above the street level. The traffic buildup that
extended to EDSA left thousands of commuters stranded for a whole night.

A bus that left Cubao, Quezon City at 4 p.m. of May 26 reached Bocaue,
Bulacan at 2 a.m. of the next day. The usually 15-minute ride from Camachile
to Bocaue turned into a grueling and nerve-wracking 8-hour saga for drivers
and commuters. Thousands of office workers that left Makati City at 5 p.m.
of May 26 were lucky to reach their homes in Bulacan at 4 a.m. of the next
day. Others spent the night under the rain while catching for a ride along
EDSA.


Third Longest Coastline

The Philippines, one of the world's largest archipelagos, also has one of
the longest combined coastlines in the planet. The total length of the
country's coastlines is 36,289 kilometers or almost twice that of the
United States. It is said to be the third country with the longest combined
coastlines, after Canada and Indonesia.


Longest Cave in the Philippines

The 15-kilometer St. Paul Cave in Palawan province is considered as
the longest natural cave in the country. Other notable caves in the
Philippines are the 8.9-kilometer Odloman Cave in Mabinay, Negros
Oriental; and the 7.7-kilometer Odessa Tumbali Cave in Penablanca,
Cagayan.

In terms of vertical range, the deepest cave is the Sumaging-Latipan-
Lomyang Crystal Cave in Sagada Mountain Province. Its deepest point
is 163 meters from its mouth.


Longest Underground River in the World

Palawan's St. Paul's underground river is said to be the world's longest
underground river. The navigable part of the river inside the cave of the
4000-acre St. Paul Subterranean River stretches 8.2 kilometers in length
(5 miles). However, this title is being disputed in Vietnam where an
underground river known as Son Trach River reportedly extends 7 miles
in length. Filipino explorers, however, claimed that once fully measured,
St. Paul's total length would reach 15 kilometers.


Longest River

Cagayan River or Rio Grande de Cagayan, with a total length of 353
kilometers, is the longest and widest river in the Philippines. It bisects
the Cagayan Valley from north to south. Also considered as the
mightiest watercourse, Cagayan
River sources its water from smaller rivers and streams in the mountain
ranges of Sierra Madre, Caraballo, Cordillera, and Balete Pass.

The other notable rivers in Luzon are Chico, Abra, Pampanga, and Bicol.
In the south, the principal rivers are Mindanao (known in its upper
course as the Pulangi) and Agusan.

Meanwhile, the underground river of St. Paul's Natural Park in Palawan is
considered as one of the world's longest subterranean rivers. The world's
longest rivers are the Nile River in Egypt and Amazon River in South America.
Also worth mentioning are the Yangtze River in China, Mekong River in
Vietnam, and Euphrates River in Iraq.


Longest Mountain Range

The longest mountain range in the country is Sierra Madre, which
stretches from Cagayan province in northeastern Luzon to Aurora
province in southern Tagalog.


Longest Underground Railway

The country's first subway remains to be built, but this early,
passengers of MRT3 (Metro Rail Transit) had the chance to know
what it is like to travel underground. The MRT line, which spans
from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City,
passes through an underground tunnel, measuring hundreds of
meters, along EDSA corner Buendia Avenue in Makati City.

The MRT is a US$565 million project, involving 60 Czech-made trains.
At present, it has 10 stations, which were built at key road
intersections in Metro Manila. The average distance between
stations is 1.300 kilometer.

There were plans to build a 100-kilometer railway system from
Fort Bonifacio in Makati City to Clark in Pampanga. Based on the
plan, five to seven kilometers of this railway will be elevated while
10 kilometers will be laid underground, making it the first true
subway in the country.

[Limahong]

This is the longest trivia so far. I've got a nice reading here. Thanks neilski.

The title of the longest bridge, however, may soon belong to a bridge, which will be built in the Manila Bay. This cable suspension bridge will link Metro Manila to the provinces of Bataan and Cavite. It will be patterned after the Tokyo Bay Aqualine, which connects Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture to Kisarazu City in Japan.

Piso tamang barko, this will be called "The Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Bridge". 'Wanna bet?

Poor second is "The Manny PacMan Pacquiao Bridge" should he win against In Jin Chi, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez, in that order.

[Mystica Michelle]

This is the longest trivia so far. I've got a nice reading here. Thanks neilski.

agree....long but very interesting to read and informative.
OK pala si mr.pogi ah.

salamat...pasok na ko. mamaya na lang

[Mystica Michelle]

Piso tamang barko, this will be called "The Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Bridge". 'Wanna bet?

Poor second is "The Manny PacMan Pacquiao Bridge" should he win against In Jin Chi, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez, in that order.

hahaha....wala akong piso dito....one dollar na lang?
Depende kung sya pa rin president when construction
for this bridge starts.

PacMan Bridge na lang....OK pa