March 23, 2026
MANILA – When food heritage advocate John Sherwin Felix received a publicly funded Filipino recipe book in September 2025, he emailed the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to report that the book the agency funded contained several errors. In February 2026, he received a subpoena in a libel complaint, alleging that his posts citing errors in the book were malicious.
John Sherwin Felix is a food heritage researcher and the creator of the Facebook and Instagram page Lokalpedia. Felix is known for documenting artisanal and endangered Filipino ingredients and cooking traditions, which has earned him over 250,000 followers combined across all his public accounts, most of whom are receptive to his efforts to democratise Filipino food knowledge.
“It’s surprising to receive such a complaint, especially since I believe I just used my freedom of expression, my freedom to critique a public project that talks about traditional knowledge,” Felix told the Asia News Network.
One of the errors that Felix publicly pointed out was in the Tausug soup dish of “Tiyula Itum.” The DTI book’s recipe uses coconut milk, but according to the reference posted by Felix, the traditional recipe doesn’t, and instead, it uses charred coconut meat, which is not mentioned in the DTI book.
According to an ABS-CBN report, the book, “Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions,” with over 150 Filipino recipes, was authored by Chef Jose Antonio Miguel “Jam” Melchor. The Malikhaing Pinoy Program (MPP) grant of the DTI funded the publishing of the initial 2,000 copies of the book. The book cannot be sold for profit, as public funds were used to publish it.
In February 2026, the DTI Malikhaing Pinoy also announced that Melchor has been appointed as the Private Sector Representative for Traditional Cultural Expressions of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council.
Felix disagrees with the libel case, as “it (the book) is also publicly distributed in government platforms and spaces, so everything about it is of public interest,” he added.
Chef Laorence Castillo, co-founder of Gulay Na!, an alliance of Filipino food advocates for food heritage and food security, in a statement, said that errors in the recipes are not mere culinary inaccuracies, as these reflect a lack of cultural sensitivity, especially to the farmers and indigenous peoples who cook these dishes daily.
Filipino environmentalist and biodiversity advocate Celine and Dennis Murillo also expressed support for Felix.
“As archivists, documentarists, and storytellers, we must hold ourselves, our peers, and our institutions to the highest standards and call for accountability whenever necessary. In the same vein, if we deem ourselves worthy of doing this work, we must be able to defend it whenever and wherever it is required of us,” their statement read.
Felix is thankful that many civic and rights groups expressed their support through solidarity messages and by backing his statements and corrections. However, the case has also heavily affected his work.
“My fieldwork has been heavily affected over the past few weeks. I can’t travel because of the back-and-forth paperwork and legal responsibilities. Despite this, I remain committed to continuing my work, disseminating information, and educating the public not only about the facts and trivia of Philippine food heritage but also about the critical issues surrounding it. I also place my full trust in the law that the matters will be resolved with justice,” he said.
Felix and his legal team filed a counteraffidavit for the case last March 10 and are awaiting resolution. Asia News Network reached out to Melchor, who declined to comment on the matter. The DTI has also not responded to the interview request.