Meet the Philippines’ Islanders Reclaiming Their Heritage

The area’s produce is only one facet of its cultural heritage, which, traditionally, has been missed. It’s a legacy of Manila-centric colonial insurance policies and the 1937 elevation of Manila’s language, Tagalog, to the Philippines’ official language, together with English. Joining us on the desk are Jason and Virna Tan, a charismatic husband-and-wife duo of their fifties who shall be my guides for the week and who’ve witnessed the implications of this bias. “School subjects are taught in Tagalog, which is a bit weird because nobody here speaks it,” says Jason, adjusting his square-rimmed glasses. “And they only teach national history, not local history. It’s sad.”

But there are indicators of a cultural resurgence. Iloilo, on Panay island, grew to become the Philippines’ first Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy in 2023. New music, artwork and museums, reminiscent of Iloilo’s National Museum Western Visayas, have a good time the tradition. And in 2025, Bacolod was chosen to host the primary Terra Madre Asia and Pacific — an occasion with its origins in Italy’s Slow Food Movement, which goals to protect conventional meals. Chinchin co-founded Slow Food Negros in 2012 and was instrumental in securing this honour.

On the night time of our dinner, the occasion — comprising 5 days of pop-ups, talks and tastings — has simply completed. Many cooks have caught round to forage within the provinces or discover the markets, intrigued by the world’s status as a spot of heritage elements and deep-rooted traditions.

Searching For Sugarlandia

The subsequent day, Jason and Virna take me to Bacolod Central Market. Along the way in which, we move honking jeepneys (public buses initially transformed from army jeeps), canary-yellow tricycles and a jumble of buildings that recall the Philippines’ former colonists: Spanish-style arches, US-style clapboard. Murals of grinning, feather-framed masks evoke Masskara, the town’s greatest competition.

The market is a sprawl of stalls beneath a corrugated iron roof, the place sellers name out within the sing-song tone of Hiligaynon. Uga (dried fish), batwan and ginamos assail my nostrils, however what’s most stunning is the abundance of candy snacks. There’s budbud, baye-baye, kalamay hati, suman latik: all variations on sticky rice with brown sugar.