Bagoong and the Colonial Tax
How the Spanish colonial taxation of fermented fish paste reshaped Philippine food culture, trade networks, and the legal foundations of indigenous commerce.
food law
Section 02
The Culinary Codex
At the intersection of food and law — how colonial taxation shaped fermentation, how trade regulation determined what grew in the fields, and how food sovereignty remains the oldest political question.
Themes
Food & Law
The legal instruments that controlled production, distribution, and consumption — from the bandala to the FDA.
Trade & Regulation
Tariffs, monopolies, and trade agreements that shaped agriculture and food access across centuries.
Cultural Policy
How official policy — intentionally or not — transformed indigenous foodways and drinking culture.
Archive
From Ancient Granaries to the Rice Tariffication Law
The legal history of rice in the Philippines — from pre-colonial communal granaries to RA 11203 and the politics of the nation's most regulated grain.
trade regulation
Tuba and Temperance
Alcohol regulation in the Philippines from pre-colonial coconut wine to the modern excise tax — a history of the state's attempt to control what people drink.
cultural policy