Wazzup Pilipinas!?
In the Philippines, there is a recurring, heartbreaking ghost in the machinery of progress: the "substandard" norm. We have grown accustomed to seeing public funds—the hard-earned money of the Filipino people—funnelled into projects that crumble upon delivery. But usually, these failures are made of concrete and steel. This time, the failure is made of paper, ink, and a devastating erasure of cultural identity.
At the heart of this storm is John Sherwin Felix, a man who spent years in the trenches of Philippine heritage. He had no government salary, no official title, and no institutional budget. He was fueled by a singular, quiet passion: documenting the soul of Filipino food.
When the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) launched Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions, it was supposed to be a triumph of the "Malikhaing Pinoy" (Creative Filipino) initiative. Instead, Felix found a book riddled with factual rot. He did what any researcher worth their salt would do—he corrected the record.
Now, for the "crime" of being right, John Sherwin Felix faces 12 years in prison for cyberlibel.
A Comedy of Errors, A Tragedy of Heritage
The book, authored by Jam Melchor and backed by the DTI, doesn’t just contain typos; it fundamentally misrepresents the culinary DNA of the regions it claims to celebrate. To the casual reader, these may seem like "foodie" squabbles. To the communities whose identities are tied to these pots and pans, it is a clinical erasure of their history.
The Anatomy of the Inaccuracies:
The Botany of Betrayal: The book identifies batwan as a "legume" that turns Ilonggo KBL dark. In reality, batwan is an endemic fruit. It is never sliced; it is added whole. The dark hue of the dish comes from purple kadios and charred meat. To miss this is to fail "Ilonggo 101."
The Endangered Truth: It describes the tawilis as a fish found in "lakes and rivers throughout the archipelago." This isn't just a mistake; it’s ecological misinformation. Tawilis is endemic only to Taal Lake and is currently classified as critically endangered.
The Ghost Ingredients: In the Tausug masterpiece Tiyula Itum, the book suggests adding coconut milk and reducing it like a thick stew. Real Tiyula Itum is a clear soup, similar to nilaga. Its signature black color comes from charred coconut meat—an ingredient the book’s recipe inexplicably omits.
The Erasure of the Carabao: For the people of Tuguegarao, Batil Patung is defined by carabeef. The book swaps this for pork and chicken and adds tomatoes—a practice local historians and the Cagayan Museum flatly deny. It even treats the essential batil (egg-drop soup) as an afterthought.
From mislabeling the Hokkien roots of Humba as "folk etymology" to stripping Piaparan a manok of its essential palapa, the book reads less like a scholarly work and more like a rushed assembly of half-truths.
The High Cost of "Pwede Na"
When government-funded publications are released, they carry the weight of authority. They become the "official" version of us. If an official book tells the world that Kare-kare gets its color from peanuts rather than atsuete, the truth begins to die.
The critical questions remain unanswered:
What was the budget for this project?
Was there a peer-review process, or was it a "pwede na" (good enough) production?
Why is the weight of the law being used to silence a whistleblower rather than to fix the errors?
Standing with the Truth
John Sherwin Felix didn’t attack a person; he defended a culture. He has the backing of the scholars, cultural workers, and the very communities the book misrepresented. When correcting a government-funded error becomes a path to a prison cell, the message to every researcher and advocate is clear: Be quiet, or be punished.
We cannot afford that silence. We deserve quality from our public funds, and we deserve a history that isn't rewritten by the highest bidder.
The charges against John Sherwin Felix must be dropped. Our heritage is not for sale, and the truth should never be a crime.
To: Sec. Cristina Aldeguer-Roque Department of Trade and Industry
Director Lilian Garcia Salonga Creative Industries Development Office
Subject: Formal Grievance and Technical Corrections Regarding the Publication Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions
Dear Secretary Aldeguer-Roque and Director Salonga,
I am writing to formally bring to your attention a series of critical factual inaccuracies and cultural misrepresentations present in the DTI-funded publication, Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions, authored by Jam Melchor.
As a work produced under the Malikhaing Pinoy initiative and funded by public taxpayer money, this book carries the weight of an official record. However, the current edition contains errors that do a profound disservice to the regional communities it purports to represent.
Summary of Critical Technical Errors:
Botanical & Culinary Misidentification (Iloilo): The book identifies batwan (Garcinia binucao) as a "legume." It is an endemic fruit. It further attributes the dark color of KBL to the batwan and instructs slicing it; traditionally, the color comes from purple kadios and grilled meat, and the fruit is added whole.
Ecological Misinformation (Batangas): The tawilis is described as being found in "lakes and rivers throughout the archipelago." This is scientifically incorrect. Sardinella tawilis is endemic only to Taal Lake and is currently classified as critically endangered by the IUCN.
Cultural Erasure of Culinary Techniques (Mindanao):
Tiyula Itum: The recipe erroneously includes coconut milk and suggests a thickened reduction. Authentic Tausug Tiyula Itum is a soup (similar to nilaga) that relies on charred coconut meat for its signature black hue—an ingredient omitted from the book’s process.
Piaparan a Manok: The recipe fails to include papar (grated coconut) and palapa (the soul of Meranaw cuisine), rendering the dish unrecognizable to its community of origin.
Historical Inaccuracy (Cagayan): The book substitutes carabeef—the defining protein of Batil Patung—with pork and chicken, and adds tomatoes, a practice rejected by the Cagayan Museum and local historians.
Request for Action:
Official publications must be held to a standard of excellence, not "substandard" convenience. When a researcher like John Sherwin Felix identifies these errors, the appropriate institutional response should be a commitment to accuracy and peer review, rather than the pursuit of punitive legal action like cyberlibel.
We respectfully request that the DTI:
Halt the distribution of the current edition of Kayumanggi until these errors are rectified.
Conduct a transparent audit of the research and proofreading process for this project.
Engage with local cultural workers and historians to ensure that future "Creative Pinoy" outputs accurately reflect the diverse heritage of the Philippines.
Our culture is our greatest asset. It deserves to be documented with the precision and respect that its complexity demands.
Sincerely,
WazzupPilipinas.com
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
