00:00Ika nga, ang pagkain ay hindi lamang basta lasa.
00:04Ito ay alaala ng kasaysayan at ito ay ating pagkakakilanlad.
00:09Kaya sa bawat putahin ng lutoing Pilipino, ramdam natin ang kwento ng ating bayan.
00:14Kaya sa pagdiriwang ng Filipino Food Month, ating pong mas pinapatingkad yung kahalagahan ng ating culinary heritage.
00:21At para binyang po tayo ng dagdag na kaalaman patungkol dito,
00:25makakasama natin si Ms. Lenny Ledesma, focal point ng UNESCO Creative City.
00:30Of Gastronomy, Iloilo City, good morning po at welcome to Rising Shine, Pilipinas.
00:37Good morning to you both and good morning to everyone listening.
00:42Good morning Ms. Lenny.
00:44Can you tell us more about the Filipino Food Month at bakit po ito mahalagang ipagdiwang ng bansa?
00:51Yes, yung Filipino Food Month, it's actually mandated by law
00:56that declares April na yung Filipino Food Month.
01:01It promotes and protects our culinary heritage and traditions, our culture.
01:07And it supports our farmers, our fisher folks, yung industry, yung mga agro communities,
01:14tsaka ino-honor natin dito yung mga regional diversity natin, ibang-ibang places in the Philippines,
01:24nagseselebrate neto.
01:26So, hindi lang isang lugar.
01:29Pero this year, yung opening ng Filipino Food Month,
01:33hinhost po ng Iloilo City kasi kami po yung nakakuha nung hosting
01:40dahil kami yung first and only UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy dito.
01:46Okay, Ms. Lenny, napakaganda po ng tema this year.
01:49Ito yung Connected by Taste, the Filipino Food and the Flavors of ASEAN.
01:55Ano po yung layunin ng mensahe at nais natin iparating sa bawat Pilipino?
02:02Oo, ang ganda nga ng message.
02:04Actually, yung message nun, pag nakita nyo, kasi nag-invita ko kami ng mga ASEAN na creative cities of gastronomy.
02:13And nagko-compare kami lahat ng mga ingredients namin, ng mga food namin.
02:18And there's so many similarities, tsaka differences.
02:22Pero mas maraming similarities.
02:24Kunyari, sa ating staple na rice, lahat tayo, kumakain ng rice.
02:29Or yung coconut, lahat naglalagay sa pagkain.
02:34Or yung ginger, or yung noodles pa lang, no?
02:37So, ito yung mga flavor profiles, food profiles na pare-pareho.
02:43So, kahit kaiba tayong mga bansa, may kaparehos pa rin tayo na mga, parang we are connected by food, no?
02:50Um, even if we have our own unique identities, tsaka culture.
02:56So, ito, parang ang message talaga in the end, we all are connected by food.
03:03And that we live in one world.
03:06So, ang ganda ng message na yun.
03:08Yes.
03:08So, Blani, sa inyo pong pananaw, bakit po kaya makalaga ang pagkain bilang bahagi ng ating kultura at identity bilang
03:16mga Pilipino?
03:16So, yes, you know, we always say na yung food is your identity, your culture.
03:26It's a story of your history, no?
03:28Yung kaysaysayan.
03:30Kasi, yung influences, yung galing sa Malay, galing sa mga, even the indigenous people,
03:38na sa food namin, tulad ng ilo-ilo, makikita mo doon yung mga influences, foreign influences,
03:44tsaka yung Spanish, Chinese, American.
03:50So, maraming influences na pasok sa food namin, no?
03:54And our food today is because of that.
03:57But aside from that, syempre may mga indigenous people kami, mga farmers,
04:01and even before pre-colonial times, may mga food na linuluto yung ating mga ninuno,
04:08na nakikip pa rin namin, no?
04:09From the farm side.
04:11So, andyan yung identity namin.
04:13Tsaka, pinapakita kung anong classic kaming people, no?
04:20Kasi in the end, yung aming mga servings, family style, hindi siya solo.
04:26So, when you go to Lilo, pagpunta ka sa restaurant, hardly any solo na yan.
04:32Lahat yan, family.
04:32Kasi food talaga is our love language.
04:35We love to share.
04:36So, sharing yung amin.
04:38Makikita mo talaga yung mga personality.
04:40And if you visit other towns and provinces,
04:43makikita mo rin yung kanilang mga identity through the food.
04:47Well, ma'am, ano po yung ibig sabihin ng pagiging bahagi ng UNESCO Creative Cities Network
04:53bilang isang creative city of gastronomy?
04:55Paano po ito nakakatulong sa pag-unlad ng food industry at even sa tourism ng Iloilo?
05:04Yes.
05:05Actually, when we got the designation in 2023, so it's almost October 2023,
05:14so almost two years, umakyat po yung tourism namin.
05:18We have beaten our targets in 2024.
05:24Instead of just 900, nag-1 million po kami na tourists na dumating with a 9 billion receipt.
05:34So, malaki sa amin yun, no?
05:35And then, just recently, dumating na yung report ng 2025, natapos na yung ano,
05:41we still beat it and we beat the numbers before the pandemic noong 2019.
05:48So, ang laki ng contribution, ng designation na yun,
05:52sindami ngayong pumupunta sa amin para makatikim.
05:55But more than that, yung industry po namin, yung gastronomy industry, yung food industry, hospitality,
06:04talagang nag-gain sila.
06:05When we look at the receipts, may 160% increase kami in the past two years in that industry alone.
06:13So, nakatulong talaga sa amin, sa ekonomiya ng ilo-ilo, yung designation ng UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
06:24Aside from putting us in the global map, di ba?
06:28Nakaka-siyempre para sa mga ilonggos, nakaka-proud yun, no?
06:32Their sense of pride na lumalabas talaga kasi international nga naman yung network na yun.
06:41Ma'am Lani, ito na lang po siguro yung mga pangunahing activities at highlights na lang po
06:46na dapat abangan ng publiko ngayong Filipino Food Month.
06:50At saka invite niyo na rin po yung ating mga ka-RSP para supportahan ito.
06:55Yes. So, ang daming activities pa rin.
06:59Actually kami sa ili-ilo, today is our closing activity.
07:03We are spending it with the youth as a member of UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.
07:08Meron ho tayong mga commitment dyan sa SDG or Sustainable Development Goals.
07:13So, yung mga academy, yung schools, mga students, maggagawa ng sarili ng commitment.
07:18Sa iba-ibang areas, meron ho silang piesta, meron ho silang mga kaincon, conference, may mga symposium.
07:27So, pwede ho kayo mag-check sa Filipino Food Month na Facebook at kung ano ho yung inyong probinsya or
07:35yung city
07:36para sa mga activities ng Filipino Food Month.
07:40Ayan, maraming salamat po sa pagbibigay sa amin ng kaalaman, Ms. Leni Ledesma.
07:45Good morning.
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