How Criticism Over Book on Filipino Cuisine Sparked a Cyber Libel Complaint

(SPOT.ph) After calling out what he found to be errors in a book on Filipino cuisine published by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), John Sherwin Felix, Philippine food biodiversity and culinary heritage documentarist known online as Lokalpedia, is facing charges of cyber libel.

The book in question is called Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions authored by Jam Melchor, founder of the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement. The 200+ pager was published in 2024 through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)’s Malikhaing Pinoy Program (MPP) and gives an overview of the history, essentials, and cooking techniques characteristic of the Filipino kitchen, followed by homegrown recipes divided into sections Noodles and Rice, Vegetables, Seafood, Chicken, Pork, Beef, Condiments, Desserts and Snacks, and Beverages. It even comes with a foreword and afterword from respected personalities in local food.

Felix says he received a copy of the book through a friend in September and spotted “inaccuracies” that he posted about online. These include:

1. Saying batwan is a legume used in KBL (Kadios, Baboy, at Langka) that “gives the broth a darker color.” Batwan, Felix points out, is a fruit that serves as the said dish's souring agent.
   

2. In the Kayumanggi recipe for Crispy Tawilis, the tawilis fish is referred to as "freshwater sardines." The fish, the book claims, is "commonly found in the freshwater lakes and rivers of the Philippines, particularly in Taal Lake in Batangas."
   
   Tawilis (a.k.a. Sardinella Tawlis), Felix says, does not only resemble sardines but is technically a sardine species, specifically a freshwater one, and one that’s endemic to Taal Lake.
   

3. The Kayumanggi recipe for Pancit Batil Patong lists pork and chicken as two of its main ingredients. Sliced tomatoes are called for in the ingredients list, added as a topping to the finished pancit.

   As Felix points out, there's no mention of the essential batil patung part-slash-procedure called batil, essentially an egg-drop soup from the broth the noodles are cooked with. He brings up the book Pancit 101: Dishes of Luzon by Jame Monren T. Mercado, Avi Ben P. Andalecio, and Evelyn O. Katigbak, which contains no tomatoes, shredded chicken, or ground pork; and uses carabeef as the protein, consistent with its history in an article by Jan Karl Coballes of the Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center.
   
   

4. The Kayumanggi recipe for Tiyula Itum claims that the soup gets its black color from burnt coconut meat. This ingredient, however, is not mentioned in the recipe itself. Instead, the Kayumanggi recipe calls for coconut milk, which is to be added to the broth and reduced. “The coconut milk will turn into a rich, dark brown color, giving the dish its characteristic blackened appearance," the recipe reads.
   
   As Felix points out, tiyula itum, a beef or goat soup of the Tausug, gets its color from charred coconut meat. It doesn’t usually contain coconut milk and the consistency tends to be thinner, along the lines of nilaga or tinola. These are features consistent with the recipe in the books Tausug Cookbook by Abdulaziz H. Hamsain.
   
   

5. The Kayumanggi recipe for Piaparan a Manok doesn't include papar (grated coconut) and palapa (a traditional condiment made with sakurab and other aromatics), which Felix points out are key elements of the dish.

Felix tagged the DTI Philippines and DTI Malikhaing Pinoy pages in his Facebook post, as well as these key people: Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque; Lilian Garcia Salonga of the Creative Industries Development Office; and Jo-Dann N Darong of the Bureau of Competitive Development. He says he also tried tagging Melchor but was unable to. Felix says he reached out to people from the DTI via email. "Despite sending it to multiple recipients, no one responded except for [the DTI's] Consumer Care, which merely called the attention of the Creative Industries Development Office. Still, there has been no reply," Felix wrote in his post in October.

On February 25, Felix received a subpoena for a libel complaint that claimed his posts were “malicious.”

"I was surprised to receive such a complaint," Felix says in an exchange with SPOT.ph. "My criticism did not come from malice, but from a genuine intention to offer sound, academic critique and to call for accountability. Nonetheless, I place my full trust in our justice system."

Joined by lawyers and food heritage advocate group Gulay Na!, Felix filed a counter-affidavit on March 10. A press conference was also held that day, arranged by food and biodiversity advocates to support Felix. Many have expressed support for Felix, including Chef Laorence Castillo, co-founder of Gulay Na; broadcast journalist Howie Severino, and biodiversity advocates Celine and Dennis Murillo.

According to a 2025 ABS-CBN report, DTI funded Kayumanggi's publication, which means the books cannot be sold for profit. The DTI launched the cookbook February of last year with an event held at Sheraton Manila Hotel. In November, Kayumanggi was named the “Best Asian Food Culture Book in the World” at the 2025 Gourmand Awards in Riyadh.

SPOT.ph reached out to the DTI and Jam Melchor for a comment. The DTI has not responded; Melchor has declined releasing a statement or granting an interview for the time being.

What is cyber libel, anyway? There’s traditional libel, defined in the Revised Penal Code as a “a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.” The Republic Act No. 10175 a.k.a. the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 extends libel to the online realm in the form of cyber libel, or libel specifically committed “through a computer system or other similar means,” listed under the Act’s content-related offenses. The penalty for cyber libel is one degree higher than that of traditional libel.