BY MA. THERESA LADIAO
ILOILO City – From iconic Ilonggo dishes to contemporary culinary innovations, Filipino Food Month 2025 is an ideal platform to highlight Iloilo City as the Philippines’ City of Gastronomy and a living repository of the country’s culinary heritage and values.
The month-long celebration here kicks off today, April 22, with a special exhibit at SM City Iloilo, showcasing the evolution of Filipino food from heirloom recipes to modern reinterpretations.
The event seeks to go beyond taste and presentation, framing Filipino cuisine as an essential expression of identity and culture.
This year’s theme, “Sarap ng Pagkaing Pilipino: Yaman ng Ating Kasaysayan at Pagkatao”, emphasizes the role of food in preserving history, forging national pride, and inspiring innovation rooted in tradition.
Spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT), the initiative also promotes sustainable practices in local food production and consumption.
Iloilo — home to beloved dishes such as batchoy, pancit molo, and kadyos, baboy, langka (KBL) — is using the platform not just to celebrate flavors, but to encourage intergenerational conversations around food sustainability, agricultural resilience, and cultural continuity.
Filipino Food Month, officially observed every April under Presidential Proclamation No. 469, continues to elevate culinary traditions as an integral part of national heritage — especially in regions like Iloilo, where every dish tells a story./PN