Can batchoy follow Guimaras mango as a protected PHL name?

A 55-gram packet of Lucky Me! La Paz Batchoy carries the name of a district in Iloilo City, but the district’s broth makers hold no statutory protection over it.

A 2026 policy paper by Mary Rose Rebueno and Ramon Benedicto Alampay in the Philippine Journal of Public Policy: Interdisciplinary Development Perspectives describes the gap.

Lucky Me!, a Monde Nissin brand, is the leading commercial instant noodle brand with La Paz Batchoy variants, according to a 2014 review by The Ramen Rater that the paper cites.

The variants come in regular packets of 55 grams or 70 grams, as well as ready-to-eat Go Cup and mini cup formats.

The paper does not say the products violate any law, and it describes the issue as a legal vulnerability. It also does not say whether a geographical indication (GI) would bar such products from using the name.

Participants in the Batchoy Stakeholders’ Forum on September 17, 2024 at District 21 Hotel said some products are labeled La Paz Batchoy even though they do not originate from the area.

They added that marketing La Paz Batchoy through commercial soup manufacturers dilutes its authenticity, and they feared younger consumers might confuse the instant version with the traditional dish.

The forum drew 40 participants from batchoy establishments, the city government, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Center, the Local Economic Development and Investment Promotions (LEDIP) office, the Heritage Council, the academe, and the private sector.

Without a formal standard, the paper says, authenticity relies on uncodified practices such as slow-simmered bone broth, fresh miki noodles, pork offal, and guinamos, or fermented shrimp paste.

Outside Iloilo, “La Paz” risks becoming an empty geographical signifier on mass-produced or modified noodle soups that omit those techniques and ingredients.

Without GI registration, the paper warns, the name risks becoming a commodity exploited by commercial manufacturers, leaving local traditional broth makers economically exposed.

THE GAP

Four years after the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) opened a GI registry, the bowl on Iloilo City’s UNESCO logo still has no registered name, no Code of Practice, and no association to apply for either.

The paper names two bottlenecks: the absence of a standardized Code of Practice defining technical specifications and the lack of a formal batchoy association to enforce standards.

La Paz Batchoy is the signature dish behind Iloilo City’s designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, granted in November 2023.

Iloilo became the third Philippine city after Cebu City and Baguio City to earn the honor, and the first in the gastronomy category.

The city’s logo adopted a bowl of piping hot La Paz Batchoy to symbolize Iloilo as a “melting pot for local produce and home-grown cuisine coming from the sources of its supply chain,” according to a 2023 presentation by gastronomy consultant PJ Arañador.

IPOPHL published its sui generis, or special-law, GI rules in November 2022 under Memorandum Circular No. 2022-022, creating a dedicated Registry in place of the earlier trademark-based framework.

Republic Act No. 8293, the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, remains the legal anchor, with Section 168 providing protection against unfair competition and other provisions covering collective marks and trademarks.

A GI request may come from a group of producers through a representative cooperative or association, or from a national competent authority such as a local government unit.

IPOPHL Intellectual Property Rights Specialist Marianne Tajanlangit-Bebit told the authors that ideally a formal association should set the standards, and that only those who comply could use the term La Paz Batchoy.

The authors recommend that the Iloilo City government facilitate a formal association or cooperative of batchoy business owners, with the help of the academe.

In the paper’s framework, the city acts as convenor, Heritage Steward, Standards Facilitator, and Ecosystem Builder, commissioning archival, oral history, and anthropological research and co-creating a consensus-based Code of Practice.

Many batchoy owners may not be aware of GI, the paper adds, and common ingredient suppliers and food safety standards may also have to be part of the rules.

THE DEFINITION

For the first time, stakeholders sat down to settle what belongs in the bowl at an August 11, 2026 meeting at Iloilo City Hall with representatives of local batchoy establishments, the city government, the Iloilo City Gastronomy Council, the academe, IPOPHL, and the DTI.

Participants defined authentic La Paz Batchoy as a pork and beef-based soup with miki noodles and pork offal, including liver, garnished with roasted garlic, green onions, and occasionally egg.

The broth is traditionally rich and complex, sometimes elevated with patis (fish sauce), soy sauce, black pepper, and occasionally guinamos, and it can be adjusted for customers with specific preferences or allergies.

It must be served piping hot, often as a complete meal alongside puto or pandesal, and PJ Arañador said chicharon adds a salty crunch and rich pork flavor as it softens in the broth.

Participants described authentic batchoy as a “democratic food,” whose origins trace to the markets of La Paz, influenced by Chinese culinary traditions and commercialized in the pre- and post-war periods.

UP Visayas Chancellor Clement C. Camposano, quoted by Ted Aldwin Ong in the Daily Guardian on May 18, 2024, said: “A bowl of batchoy is not just noodles, spices and cheap animal bits—its broth is also thickened by stories about our relationship with Chinese immigrants, our historical ties to Mexico, and the New World and the everyday lives of the toiling masses. Its emergence in a public market and not the kitchens of the local elite speak volumes about its democratic character.”

La Paz became an independent municipality in 1856 and an urban district of Iloilo City in 1937, and in 2018 the Iloilo City Council declared it the “La Paz Batchoy capital of the Philippines.”

Taste Atlas, an international food database, has rated La Paz Batchoy the world’s best offal soup, the highest rating among offal soups worldwide.

The Daily Guardian reported on November 7, 2024 that Taste Atlas said “there is no doubt that it was in Iloilo, more specifically in the district of La Paz,” where the dish’s journey from local delicacy to national and worldwide fame began.

Local passion is real, as seen in December 2024 when a Makati restaurant’s radically different batchoy drew online criticism from Ilonggos for dropping pork scraps and offal, although some commenters backed innovation as long as the dish’s essence is kept.

Variation among established vendors in broth sweetness, marrow richness, and offal ratios is well recognized, and the authors say a GI would not eliminate it or restrict non-Ilonggo cooks.

THE SHORTCUT

Iloilo does not have to wait years for a full GI, because the paper proposes a dual-pathway roadmap that begins with an LGU-led certification mark validating authentic fresh preparation.

A group or cooperative could apply for a collective mark, which only association members may use.

The city, as focal applicant, could apply for a certification mark that anyone who meets the standards may use.

The paper cites the Napa Valley Vintners’ 2015 certification mark for “Napa Valley” at the US Patent and Trademark Office as an example of that model.

The authors say the Iloilo City Gastronomy Council could also apply for the GI with private sector representation.

IPOPHL’s Tajanlangit-Bebit presented strategic pathways to the Iloilo City government on June 23, 2026, and the paper credits her with the view that eligibility rests on geographical origin, reputation, and tradition, not on a product’s physical longevity.

The paper does not say whether a certification mark would stop instant noodle makers from using the name.

THE HARDER CASE

Guimaras got a GI because its soil is measurable, but La Paz Batchoy has no soil to point to, and the study’s own authors say that makes the case harder.

Guimaras mango, approved in May 2023 as the Philippines’ first registered GI on the application of the Guimaras Mango Growers and Producers Development Cooperative, shows both the promise and the difficulty.

Its qualities are tied to the province’s soil, which is abundant in calcium and magnesium, and to a topography and elevation suited to the “carabao” variety.

A Manual of Specifications covers soil management through post-harvest handling, packing, storage, labeling, and control.

Batchoy’s territorial value is more subjective, the authors write, because cuisine is intangible heritage and its ingredients may come from places other than La Paz.

They add that it may be argued batchoy’s broad geographic scope is Iloilo City, and that “La Paz” as a place marker has more to do with the dish’s roots in the district’s historic public market.

Former Provincial Economic Development Officer Elena V. Quezon said extensive meetings were held to reach consensus on the characteristics of Guimaras mangoes, according to the paper.

Abroad, GI protection has covered Champagne, Turron de Alicante, Turron de Jijona, Asperges du Blayais, and Prosciutto di Parma.

It has also covered Darjeeling tea, which raised market value and profits for tea growers and boosted tourism, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, which increased income for its stakeholders.

Stakeholders also flagged pork and miki cost pressures, African Swine Fever, power and water interruptions, high rents, labor shortages, tedious Department of Tourism accreditation, and high vendor fees at private festivals.

They urged a Common Service Facility with technical training in business operations and costing, and a joint petition to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for dedicated space at Iloilo International Airport.

The consultations include the September 17, 2024 forum, a June 18, 2025 meeting, and the August 11, 2026 session, under “Namit gid: A Multi-Stakeholders’ Collaboration for the Ilonggo’s Batchoy.”

The project belongs to the Center for West Visayan Studies’ Panay Weaving and Culinary Heritage Program and is funded by the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS).

The authors say the application “will not happen overnight,” and that it will take time just as it did for Guimaras mango.