Ilagan gunning for a world record with giant armchair

ILAGAN, Isabela — There’s "Guinness fever" in this capital town as Ilagueños bid for a world record for the biggest armchair, locally known as butaka.

Ilagan officials and residents hope that the giant butaka — measuring 11.6 feet high, 20.8 feet long and 9.8 feet wide, and weighing at least 1,000 kilograms — would make it to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Such a feat, they say, would make Isabela’s 147th founding anniversary on May 11, truly memorable.

The giant armchair, made from first-class narra with woven rattan seat, was unveiled for public viewing last Tuesday afternoon at the provincial capitol’s Rizal Park. It was to be transferred yesterday to Bonifacio Park at the junction going to Cagayan.

Behind the butaka were craftsmen of Barangay Alinguigan II, touted to be the "furniture capital" of the Cagayan Valley. About 95 percent of Alinguigan residents are furniture makers.

Alfredo Hernandez, chairman of Barangay Alinguigan II, said big furniture entrepreneurs in the village contributed at least P500 each for the making of the giant butaka, while small ones chipped in P200 each.

The municipal government, led by Mayor Delfinito Albano, shouldered the rest of the expenses. The project reportedly cost about P150,000.

About 12 to 50 skilled craftsmen of Alinguigan had given their time to the butaka’s making, working on it daily, even on weekends, from 2 to 10 p.m., since last month.

"We initially thought of making a big rocking chair, but the mayor advised us to just make an armchair," Hernandez said. A rocking chair is also locally called a butaka.

He said Albano preferred the "lazy chair" because historically, it was the first-ever piece of furniture, which early Ilagueños crafted about a century ago. The rocking chair only evolved from the early butaka, he said.

Albano fully supported the project as a tribute to the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the Alinguigan furniture makers, and to promote Isabela’s furniture industry.

Paolo Rivero and his wife, Abigail Uy-Rivero, owners of MARJS Hotel here, believe that the giant butaka would also help boost the local tourism industry, giving tourists another reason to visit and explore this vast Cagayan Valley province.