A Cultural Advocate Appeals: Protecting Our Food Heritage Calls for Solidarity

Filipino food has been receiving the attention it deserves, especially in recent years—thanks to the many Filipino chefs, both locally and around the world, who are championing the cuisine, as well as recognition from the Michelin Guide and awards from international bodies for our culinary books. 

It is unfortunate that in recent months, this growing recognition has been marred by tension and controversy. Chef Jam Melchor, founder of the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement and author of Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions—not the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), as some have assumed—has reportedly filed a cyberlibel complaint against John Sherwin Felix, a culinary heritage documentarian and the mind behind Lokalpedia. 

Felix, in a series of social media posts since September of last year, pointed out several “errors” he found in Melchor’s book—from misclassifying batwan as a legume and misidentifying the source of kare-kare’s color, to incorrectly describing tawilis’ habitat, altering the traditional proteins and components of batil patung, and omitting and adding key ingredients and processes in regional dishes like pinakbet, tiyula itum, and piaparan a manok. 

In one post, Felix wrote: “How can a book claim to save Filipino culinary heritage when it has bastardized many regional recipes and is filled with misinformation? Thousands of pesos from public funds went to this erroneous Kayumanggi book.” 

The young food heritage advocate claimed he went to great lengths as emailing the official addresses of the DTI and the key persons involved in the project, to no avail. “The author blocked my social media accounts,” he added.  

Melchor, on the other hand, has kept mum on the issue. Esquire Philippines also reached out to him through a close friend, but we were told that “he is not in a position to make a statement because the judicial process is ongoing. His lawyers have advised him not to make any statement.” 

Ruston Banal, also an author and cultural advocate, said the legal case is between Melchor and Felix, which may explain why the DTI has not issued a statement. “It was Jam who produced the book. He only received a small grant for printing, which the agency provides to Filipino authors.” Banal also confirmed reports that efforts have been made to correct the Kayumanggi book, and that its printing and distribution have been halted. 

Banal said Felix’s social media posts may no longer reflect their original content, as they may have already been toned down, but he believes Melchor has sufficient grounds to file a case. He said it was disheartening that it had come to this. 

He sent this message of appeal to his fellow cultural advocates:   

“As cultural advocates, we use photography, video, and social media to bring our communities’ stories to a wider audience. But to do this work meaningfully, our compassion must be genuine—and it must extend not only to the communities we document, but also to our fellow advocates. 

“This is a small, tightly knit field. Nobody gets rich doing this, so there are only a few of us. More often than not, we know each other through mutual connections and social media rather than face-to-face interactions. 

“Because of that distance, it becomes easy for reservations—or even quiet rivalries—to creep in. At times, we may find ourselves asking: Who is this person? What gives them the authority to do this work? Are they trained? Are they qualified? These questions, while not always unfounded, can slowly shift how we see one another. We begin to view peers as competitors rather than collaborators. 

“But the moment we do, our work stops being an advocacy. It becomes self-promotion, with communities and their heritage reduced to backdrops for personal recognition. 

“True cultural preservation requires pure intentions. If we are genuinely fighting to save our culture, we have to root our work in deep compassion—supporting both the communities we represent and the peers standing right beside us in this mission. 

“Recent events within the cultural community have shown how quickly tensions can escalate, particularly in the age of social media. What may begin as critique or disagreement can take on a life of its own, drawing in wider audiences and intensifying divisions. For those directly involved, the consequences can be deeply personal, with reputations, relationships, and future opportunities at stake. 

“This is not to suggest that criticism has no place in our work. On the contrary, thoughtful critique is essential to any field concerned with documentation and preservation. But as these conversations unfold, it is worth asking how they are conducted, and to what end. 

“In a time already marked by broader social and political pressures, it is disheartening to see cultural advocacy—work that is meant to unify and preserve—become a site of conflict among its own practitioners. The implications reach far beyond those directly involved. 

“We desperately need an intervention. We already face enough stress in our daily political climate; it is tragic to see our cultural and heritage advocacy marred by infighting and misunderstandings among our own workers. 

“Because our shared goal is the preservation of our culture, I urge the peers and mutual connections of these two passionate advocates to step in. We need to help mediate and find common ground before this situation causes irreversible damage to them and to the advocacy we all care so deeply about.” 

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