SAN PABLO CITY, Laguna. San Pablo City has officially set a Guinness World Record for the most people planting coconuts simultaneously (multiple venues), with thousands of volunteers planting 11,000 coconut seedlings in 15 minutes across 12 barangays, city officials said. A Guinness adjudicator was on site to validate the synchronized activity before the certificate was awarded.
Mayor Najie Gapangada Jr. led the effort, describing it as the kickoff to a three-year replanting program to revive the city’s historic coconut industry and offset trees that will be cleared for an upcoming agri-industrial park. The seedlings were supplied by the City Agriculturist Office and the Philippine Coconut Authority, with participants drawn from schools, civic groups, and the public sector.
The main planting site was an 8-hectare property owned by Philip Young, special assistant to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., while parallel sites operated simultaneously in other villages to meet Guinness’ verification standards.
City and provincial pages, schools, and local groups posted celebratory messages confirming the Guinness recognition and sharing images of the certificate.
Why this record matters
San Pablo once branded itself the country’s coconut capital, and officials say mass replanting will help replace aging trees, underpin future processing capacity, and support jobs linked to planned industrial expansion. Friday’s record attempt was timed and structured to meet Guinness rules for a simultaneous, multi-venue planting, with on-site counting and time controls.
The previous benchmark
Local reports note the title had been associated with Nagapattinam District, India, in earlier Guinness listings connected to mass planting drives. Nagapattinam is renowned for its large-scale, record-setting tree-planting efforts, including a notable 2002 drive at Naluvedapathy and subsequent mass plantings following the 2004 tsunami. (Those specific records covered trees/saplings over extended timeframes rather than coconut seedlings in a 15-minute simultaneous window.)
Related “planting” records in Asia and the world
To place San Pablo’s feat in context, here are comparable Guinness categories involving simultaneous or multi-venue plantings:
- Most people planting bamboo simultaneously (multiple venues): 2,305 (Philippines, 2024). Organized by the Department of Science and Technology and partners across 19 sites.
- Most people watering plants simultaneously (multiple venues): 1,755 (India). Achieved in Melmaruvathur, Tamil Nadu.
- Most people planting seeds simultaneously: 10,624 (Türkiye). A stadium-based mass seeding event in Mersin.
- Most plant species planted simultaneously in multiple locations: 240 species (India). A biodiversity-focused record by India’s environment ministry.
These categories differ in terms of species, time windows, or whether they measure people, species, or units planted, but they demonstrate how San Pablo’s synchronized, multi-site approach aligns with Guinness’ broader family of environmental records.
What’s next
Rolando Inciong, San Pablo City’s information officer, said the world-record event marks the first phase of a multi-year coconut replanting program aimed at restoring production, supporting future processing operations, and strengthening the city’s identity as a coconut hub. He added that additional planting waves and monitoring of seedling survival rates are planned as the program expands.
Reporting based on official dispatches and local confirmations on August 29, 2025. Photo: City Information Office, San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
- Venus L Peñaflor
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- Venus L Peñaflor
