HEAVIEST, LONGEST BANGUS WOW THE CROWD ANEW IN THE 2016 BANGUS RODEO

ABS-CBN -Northern Luzon TV's reporter Joanna Tacason grimaces as she carries
 one of the heaviest bangus entry in the 2016 Bangus Rodeo in Dagupan City.

DAGUPAN CITY – The battle for heaviest and the longest bangus wowed the crowd anew in the 2016 Bangus Rodeo on April 22 in front of the city plaza.

Bangus Rodeo was one of the major events of the Bangus Festival along with Gilon-Gilon, Festivals of the North, Bangusine and Bangusan Street Party.

This year’s heaviest bangus weighed 5.600 kilograms, which is heavier than last year’s winner which was 4.410 kilograms. It was owned by Alfie F. Flores.

The second heaviest bangus weighed 3.52 kilograms and was owned by Alfredo A. Vidal and the third heaviest bangus was owned by Kevin Angelo Caneng with a weight of 3.025 kilograms.

The longest bangus measured 80.5 centimeters, longer than last year’s 76 centimeters, was owned by Alfonso F. Flores while the second longest bangus was owned by Alfie F. Flores with a length of 77.5 centimeters and the third longest measuring 71.5 centimeters was owned by Alfredo Vidal.

Each entry was measured from the tip of the mouth to the tip of the tail using the metric system.

The prettiest bangus was owned by Alvin Caguioa who won second place in 2014 for the same category. The second prettiest bangus was owned by Dominador M. Caguioa and the third was owned by Betty M. Marzan.

The winners in the prettiest bangus were chosen for having a clear and well rounded eyes with fine, smooth and orderly scales; head is small and beautifully crafted; stomach is bulging; grills are red and fresh; tail ideally are not equal in length; the lower fins is shorter; flesh is firm yet soft; odor is pleasant and alluring and its weight is not less than half and not more than one kilo.

The battle for the fastest deboner was won by Marilyn G. Ugaban who placed third in the 2014 Bangus Rodeo fastest deboner contest. She was followed by Jonalyn U. Ignacio while the lone male winner, Sylvester C. Laburin, finished third.

The fastest bangus classifier challenge was won by Ryan H. Doria who placed third in both 2014 and 2015 Bangus Rodeo fastest classifier contests. Thomas V. Alejo finished second while 2^nd placer in the 2014 and 2015 fastest classifier contest Johnny T. Sindayen finished third this time.

Bangus are classified into small, medium and large according to their weight and the process of classifying is done with the use of the fingers and the palm of the classifier instead of using the weighing scale.

The race for the fastest bangus eater was won by Joanna de Vera and Erick Castro followed by Rowena Melendez and Joel Serran while Melinda Raymundo and Edgar Grado finished the race in third place.

The owners of the heaviest, longest and prettiest bangus received P15,000 , P10,000 and P5,000 for the first, second and third places respectively; including trophies and certificates.

The winners in the battle for the fastest bangus deboner, classifier and bangus eater each received P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000 for the first, second and third placers, respectively.

Contestants were all from Dagupan and the bangus were grown in the fishponds in Lucao, Pugaro, Bonuan and Salapingao. (Joseph C. Bacani/CIO/April 22, 2016)