Iloilo City named UNESCO creative city for gastronomy

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco congratulates Iloilo City for its inclusion in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network (UCCN) for Gastronomy on Wednesday (Nov. 1).  

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘯̃𝘢𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘌𝘚𝘊𝘖 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘐𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦,” Secretary Frasco expressed regarding this significant achievement. 

Secretary Frasco further emphasized, “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪-𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴’ 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘐𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘴.”

Iloilo City, in the company of 54 other cities announced by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, officially joined the Creative Cities Network on World Cities Day on October 31, 2023. 

This designation reflects Iloilo’s rich culinary heritage and reinforces its role in preserving and promoting Philippine food culture. The city is renowned for signature dishes such as La Paz Batchoy, Pancit Molo, local favorites like K.B.L. (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka), the charcoal-roasted native chicken Darag, as well as its famous giant siopao and fresh seafood. 

The DOT’s Region VI Office recently launched the “Slow Food in Western Visayas” culinary and rural tourism event program in Iloilo City in September.  

DOT Regional Director for Western Visayas, Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez, announced that the Regional Office is developing itineraries to actively promote slow food experiences for tourists, enabling them to engage in and observe food preparation and ingredients farming. 

Other food and creative industry projects of the DOT Region VI include the Western Visayas Sugar Heritage Trail, Boracay Food Crawl, Cultural and Film Tourism, including promotional projects for Antique, CineKasimanwa, CineIsla, and the Department’s flagship program: Philippine Experience: Culture, Heritage, and Arts Caravan.  

Iloilo City has made history by becoming one of the Philippine cities, alongside Baguio and Cebu City, to join the prestigious UCCN. Baguio City has held the UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art title since 2017, while Cebu City was recognized as the country’s inaugural UNESCO Creative City of Design in 2019. 

With these latest additions, the UNESCO Network now boasts 350 cities across more than one hundred countries, spanning seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music. 

Launched in 2004, the UCCN primarily aims to foster collaboration among cities that recognize creativity as a fundamental catalyst for sustainable urban development.