The 17th Sangguniang Panlungsod chaired by Vice Mayor Bryan Matthew Nepomuceno unanimously approved in final reading Ordinance No. 405, Series of 2017, declaring “Sisig Babi as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Angeles”.
“The passing of the ordinance is a great move for us to finally claim, not only by word-of-mouth but on document that sizzling sisig originated from our city” said Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Amos Rivera listed “programs and policies that will safeguard the original recipe and preparation of the pork dish.”
The ordinance also cited the significance of sisig as part of Kapampangan culinary history. It contained a historical account stating that the word sisig was already part of Kapampangan vocabulary as early as 1732, based on Fray Diego Bergano’s Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga.
Pamintuan noted that sisig was first served as “pulutan” for beer drinkers here.
“The ordinance also promotes sizzling sisig as a tourist attraction and preserves its authentic form and manner of preparation,” the mayor said.
It also provides the holding of an Annual Sisig Festival and Sisig Fiesta in the city every last week of April.
“The festival aims to showcase the unique intangible cultural heritage which shall involve school-based and community-based makers of sizzling sisig. In line with this, the Angeles City Tourism Office (ACTO) is planning to vie in this year’s UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy to further the city’s claim of being the culinary center of the region,” said tourism officer Jun Cruz.
