‘Thank God, the SARS stigma is gone’

ALCALA, Pangasinan — Three years ago, this town hogged the headlines, no thanks to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which claimed the country’s first fatality here.

The SARS stigma had rubbed on the residents as people outside the town avoided them. At the height of the SARS scare, tricycle drivers from neighboring towns refused to ferry them. The town’s drum and lyre corps was even booed when they competed in Dagupan City.

But now, thanks to the town’s Guinness attempt for the longest barbeque and grill, Mayor Manuel Collado believes that they have risen over the sad past.

"Thank God, the (SARS) stigma is gone," he said.

Last April 30, the townsfolk attempted to set two Guinness records — a three-kilometer long barbeque using pork, and a 150-meter long uninterrupted grill.

About 40,000 people witnessed the event, putting this interior town again on the national and possibly international map, albeit on a positive note.

"Ngayon pag may bumabanggit sa pangalan ng bayan namin na taga ibang lugar, iba na sinasabi. Ay, yung longest barbeque ang sinasabi na (Now when people from other places mention the name of our town, they associate it with a different thing. Now, they mention about the longest barbeque)," Collado said.