Radel Paredes
Still starving from lack of breakfast, I found myself being dragged by friends at the Cebu Provincial Capitol into having lunch with them last Friday.
I was just arriving to attend the afternoon segment of the food forum, which is part of the Eats Meets West Culinary Festival organized by the Cebu Provincial Tourism Office, when I met the group consisting of mostly guest speakers led by Boboi Costas, the province’s new tourism Czar.
They were on their way to board the coaster that would take them to Times Kitchen, a prewar restaurant not too far from the Capitol.
So there, at this old Cebuano favorite, I found myself sharing the table with some of the country’s finest chefs and food writers who had been invited to speak for the food festival sponsored by Sugbu Turismo, the Capitol’s new tourism brand.
Across me was Michaela Fenix, author of several books on Filipino cuisine, and the artist-chef Claude Tayag, whose food travel books I admire, if only for the sketches.
Not so far away across me was food writer and graphic designer Ige Ramos, whose talk on Design for Food, was really one of the reasons why I attended the food forum, bringing my students with me.
Sitting on my left was my former colleague in SunStar, Mike Jovan Sarthou, who is now based in Manila and more known in his TV programs as Chef Tatung.
An author of award-winning books himself, Mike (I prefer calling him by that name) was invited to speak about Cebuano cooking.
Also with us was Greenpeace activist Vince Cinches who spoke about overfishing, the influx of imported fish, and other problems of the fishing industry in the Philippines and how they impact on our current seafood diet or the lack of it.
It’s these two friends, Mike and Vince, that were also really the other reason why I came to the forum.
I had been an admirer of these two guys, who used to be comrades in College Editors Guild of the Philippines, an activist organization of student publications. We were also in the same literary circles back when we were in college.
Aside from being poets whose works were published in local anthologies, both Vince and Mike are also good photographers, whose skills were honed early by parents that ran family studios back in the day before the digital camera.
When Mike joined SunStar, he took the job as a photographer for the Weekend Magazine, where I also worked as illustrator and occasional writer and back-up photographer.
Like me, Mike eventually started writing also. He later left the newspaper to run a design studio and manage a Cebuano band that became popular nationwide.
With the success of his band, he then moved to Manila where he would be involved more and more with the music scene and the showbiz industry.
I did not hear much from him until he started a fine dining restaurant close to where my brother used to live in Taguig.
I visited Mike there one time and he asked my daughter to illustrate his tote bags and other items that carried his brand.
His restaurant soon became a hit as celebrities and famous people frequented the place to dine. He started to appear on TV as Chef Tatung.
But although Mike is known for his fine dining cuisine, he always champions native food, the kind ordinary people eat. But in his own interpretation of Filipino cuisine, he makes sure to elevate it to the level that could match those of other countries.
And for that, Mike has single-handedly brought pride to the Philippines, promoting our cuisine in international food festivals.
Vince, on the other hand, also brought the Philippines to the radar of ecological issues, being the local lead campaigner for the international environmental group Greenpeace.
Like Mike, he is now based in Manila, where he often commutes on a second-hand bicycle he bought here in Cebu. When Vince and Antonio Oposa organized the Road Revolution, a campaign for bike lanes and road sharing few years ago, I joined the critical mass ride and other demonstrations.
These days, I often see Vince on TV, leading protests against mining and campaigns to protect the local sharks and other endangered marine species.
Right now, his group is trying to coordinate with food and hotel industry as well as government agencies to forge a system of standards in the purchase of seafood products that would guarantee sustainability of supply and protection of marine resources.
Whereas before, we see Vince, the militant activist, always at the frontline and barricades, negotiating with the anti-riot police, today he spends more time talking with businessmen and politicians and trying to see how they can help the environment.
I am proud to see these old comrades continue to fight for the country in their own ways. Mike champions simple native food against the growing
influence of international fastfood chains and processed food industry. Vince fights to protect our abundant natural resources. Although both are now based in Manila, they remain shining examples of Cebuano excellence.