• GILBERT P. BAYORAN / CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Sitio Campuestohan in Barangay Cabatangan, Talisay City, Negros Occidental, a former rebel lair, is now known worldwide after the Guinness World Records( GWR) officially recognized the “Manok ni Cano Guapo,” located there as the largest building in the shape of a chicken.
“After careful review of the evidence, I am pleased to announce that Ricardo ‘Cano Guapo’ Tan has achieved a Guinness World Records (GWR) title for the largest building in the shape of a chicken,” disclosed Mai McMillan, Guinness World Records adjudicator.
“You are officially amazing,” McMillan said, in a video presentation shown to the public on October 19 at the 5-hectare Campuestohan Highland Resort, owned by businessman Ricardo “Cano” Tan, a former councilor of Bacolod City.
It was officially declared by GWR on September 8 this year, on the birth date of Blessed Virgin Mary. Tan and his wife, Nita, are Marian devotees.
The world’s largest building in the shape of a chicken measures 34.9 meters (114 feet 7 inches) in height, 12.1 meters (39 ft. 9 inches) in width and 28.1 meters (92 ft. 5 inches) in length. It houses 15 rooms with the amenities of a hotel, and stairs with 115 steps.
“It is the largest building in the shape of a chicken, the first and only one, not only in the Philippines, but in the whole world. We made history, and nobody was able to achieve this but us,” declared Tan.
McMillan said in a video presentation that of 55,000 applications last year, the entry of Tan was among the 5,000 new approved world records.
Tan said it took them 456 days to build the six-story building in the shape of a rooster.
“We are now in the global map as the first country to hold a record as home to the largest building in the shape of a chicken”, Bacolod businessman Ricardo “Cano” Tan proudly declared during the blessing and inauguration of the structure at Campuestohan Highland Resort in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Saturday.
Asked why he decided to build a building in the shape of a chicken, Tan said he wants to give recognition to fighting cock breeding industry, which provides livelihood to hundreds of thousands of Negrenses, and boosts the economy of Negros Occidental, next only to sugar.
“Today, the once lonely and sleepy Sitio Campuestohan is not only a tourist landmark of the Philippines but also home to the largest building in the shape of a chicken,” Tan said.
“Let us all stand proud and celebrate like a fighting cock standing proud and ready for any challenge even to the giving of its life,” he added.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod and Talisay have presented separate resolutions congratulating Tan for his achievement.
Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya also congratulated Tan for his non-stop innovations that had an impact in terms of tourism in this part of the province. They have been pushing for the Department of Tourism to widen the roads from Barangays Granada to Alangilan and to provide additional street lights to make travel more accessible for tourists.*