Eighteen-year-old Junrey Balawing (right) receives a certificate
proclaiming him as the world’s shortest man from the Guinness Book of World Records, in the rural southern Philippine township of Sindangan, Zamboanga Del Norte yesterday. Balawing, who measured 59.93 cms or 23.5 inches, was officially declared the world’s shortest man
The Guinness Book of World Records declared yesterday an 18-year-old Filipino as the world’s shortest man.

Junrey Balawing clapped his hands after Guinness editor-in-chief Craig Glenday officially declared him as the world’s shortest man, at the health centre in Sindangan town of Zamboanga del Norte province, 865 kilometres south of Manila.
At just 59.93 centimetres, Balawing struggles to walk and cannot stand for too long. He replaced the 67-centimetre Nepali Khagendra Megar at the top of the list.
He is the eldest of the four children of blacksmith Reynaldo Balawing and his wife Concepcion.
“We are very proud of him,” she said. Agencies