Jetro Rafael and Robert Alejandro
In the book Living Food: A Healing Journey (Milflores Publishing, Inc., 2024), multi-awarded artist, founding member of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK), and TV reporter and host Robert Alejandro wrote: “One day, death will come to take me home. He won’t have long, scary limbs with pointed fingernails. He will not come to cast fear in my heart.”
‘Living Food’
Diagnosed in 2016 with colon cancer and given just a few months to live, Robert amazed his doctors by living years beyond the prognosis. His transformation from junk-food junkie to good-nutrition advocate is prodigiously narrated in the book he wrote with his partner, Jetro Rafael. Sub-titled A Memoir, the book of their personal experiences, topped with tips and recipes, traces the healing journey through food which both the authors traversed to find the path to wellness.
VGiB Living Food recipe
VGiB Living Food Rainbow Salad
Jetro says, “Robert called it ‘the story of Jetro and me disguised as a cookbook!’ It contains all his favorite recipes that supported his health and wellness, alongside our individual healing journeys, almost like a diary.”
He explains that the book, which took them almost three years to finish, wasn’t easy to write, as they were navigating medical emergencies while pouring out most vulnerable truths into its pages. “At times, it felt impossible, but we knew our story could touch lives, and that made every challenge worth it.”
Jetro was 28 in 2008 when he was diagnosed with a psychosocial condition. He was then working as art director in an advertising company. A visit to two psychiatrists confirmed he was bipolar. A bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that causes extreme shifts in moods—possibly ecstatic one moment, suicidal the next. He was put under medication and given antipsychotic drugs and mood stabilizers. He did not feel better. He thought that there must be a different way to get better, and that after all, Hippocrates, the father of medicine said, “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine thy food.”
He grew up in Isabela, in a forest backyard where greens grew plentifully. He studied the plants in the laboratory of his mother, a medical technologist, and found under a microscope the vegetables full of oxygen. “I believe that’s how Living Food came to be. Buhay na pagkain is what I sometimes call it”—as opposed to “dead food,” the junk food, processed food, food with too many preservatives and artificial flavors.
Jetro dove into the research of his condition, looking for foods and their natural way of combating his symptoms. He developed his own diet and called it the “Cuckoo Diet,” or diet for “crazy” people. He says, “I discovered that raw honey is a natural tranquilizer and immediately calms my anxiety. Fish can make you happy because it is rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.”
These foods, he says, are designed to nutritionally and biochemically activate specific neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The diet he developed helped him overcome his condition, and since then, he has not taken any medication nor had a breakdown.
His desire to share his kind of healing led to the opening of a restaurant he named Van Gogh is Bipolar (VGiB), a living art space and café at 154 Maginhawa St. in Quezon City, where he served mood-healing food to friends and family. He recalls that it was not something he had planned meticulously, but that it developed and blossomed organically. Through word of mouth, it evolved into a sanctuary for the community.
Robert was already with Jetro when the latter opened VGiB in 2009. “He believed in my vision wholeheartedly and became VGiB’s first ‘life server,’ or waiter, sharing his love and light with everyone who walked through our doors,” Jetro happily recalls.
VGiB has been cited recently among Lonely Planet Philippines’ top picks of places to eat in the country. Also, TravelUp, a travel agency in England, recently included VGiB among its choices of 15 Best Restaurants in Manila: “Van Gogh is Bipolar, a one-of-a-kind culinary haven in Manila, is a whimsical fusion of art and gastronomy. Chef Jetro Rafael curates a unique dining experience where emotions and creativity intertwine. The set menu is an artistic journey, featuring comfort food with inventive twists. The restaurant’s eclectic decor and vibrant atmosphere contribute to its distinct charm. Each dish, infused with emotional storytelling, creates an immersive dining affair. Van Gogh is Bipolar invites guests to embrace the unconventional, making it a must-visit for those seeking a culinary adventure that transcends traditional boundaries in Manila’s dynamic dining scene.”
But on hindsight, he thought of the brighter side, that he didn’t have to kill himself anymore
Robert Alejandro is the “Ro” in Papemelroti, the 57-year-old well-loved gift shop named after him and his sisters—Patsy, Peggy, Meldy, and Tina. Robert’s works, known for whimsy and charm, naturally adorn Papemelroti products. His designs and artworks for the 2022 Kakampink presidential campaign of VP Leni Robredo and her running mate, Kiko Pangilinan, were a big hit and went viral not only in the Philippines but also all over the world.
The author and her grandson with Leni fan by Robert Alejandro
JetRobert at Museo ng Pag-asa
He saw his work and images on tarps, murals, fences, shirts, posters, bags, even cupcakes. He was heartbroken when his candidates did not win, saying he was sad for the Philippines and his countrymen. To contribute in giving them hope, he helped VP Leni and her Angat Buhay project in designing and painting murals on the walls of Museo ng Pag-asa in Quezon City.
Back in 2016, when Robert was diagnosed with colon cancer, he thought it was the end. But on hindsight, he thought of the brighter side, that he didn’t have to kill himself anymore, thoughts he entertained during those times when he was suffering from depression. He decided to travel, thinking his time was limited and he might as well live his life—or whatever time he still had—to the full by going to as many places as he could.
“So, I traveled through Southeast Asia up to China, explored the Scandinavian countries of Finland, Denmark, and Sweden, and sailed on to discover the Baltics—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.” He continued, “I also visited exquisite places like Bhutan, Nepal, and Armenia. Finally, I fulfilled my ultimate travel dream by visiting South America, exploring vibrant destinations like Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia’s salt flats. My incredible adventures resulted in nice sketchbook journals.”
Jetro with Robert
Robert with Jetro
But the travels would stop. In 2020, he got really sick when he tossed caution to the wind and ate everything served on the table. It was the Christmas holiday, which coincided with his birthday. He had to be rushed to the hospital, but the doctors could not do much for him anymore. He went home with a catheter and a colostomy bag, lest he’d die of infection.
By this time, he could not keep anything down anymore, and anything he ingested caused pain. Jetro, who was by his side, was in a quandary over how to help him. Robert’s sister, Meldy Fider, contacted Jetro and suggested he try the Budwig protocol, a diet of flaxseed oil mixed with cottage cheese and low-fat milk developed by Johanna Budwig, a German biochemist in the 1950s. Jetro administered a few tablespoons of the Budwig diet he had prepared, and Robert was able to sleep. The pain was gone the following day, something the painkillers were not able to achieve. Slowly, with the Budwig protocol and the nutritious, delicious, and beautifully-plated meals that Jetro prepared, Robert was nourished back to health.
‘It’s clear Divine Fate brought us together’
“I’ve never shared this publicly—not even with our closest friends—until Robert’s wake. Looking back, it’s clear Divine Fate brought us together.” Jetro tells this writer about how they met.
Jetro was fresh out of college, with a pre-medical degree in Family Life and Child Development from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. Before continuing medical studies, he thought of getting some work experience. At that time, he was a huge fan of two popular TV shows—The Probe Team and Art Is Cool, a children’s art show; Robert was a Probe reporter and host of the art show.
Jetro chanced upon Robert at Megamall. He relates: “It felt surreal. Without hesitation, I walked up to him and asked how I could apply to work on his TV program. He was warm and kind and gave me his calling card right there and then. I tucked it away in my wallet. After that brief encounter, I never saw him again, and I never reached out to the number on the card.”
Five years later, Jetro’s life took a different turn. Instead of medicine, he had shifted to Visual Communication at the UP College of Fine Arts—the same program Robert had taken, he would discover later. For his thesis, he needed a cinematographer for a documentary he was doing about the Dumagat tribe.
It was serendipitous that while reaching for his wallet to pay for his MRT ticket, he saw Robert’s old calling card. He lost no time in contacting him, hoping he could help him with the thesis. To his surprise, he replied right away.
Jetro says, “We met the next day, and he generously offered his help with my thesis. That encounter marked the beginning of something extraordinary. What started as a professional collaboration grew into friendship and, eventually, love that changed my life forever.”
In their travels together, one trip stands out vividly for Jetro. It was the 48-hour train ride from Beijing to Mongolia
In their travels together, one trip stands out vividly for Jetro. It was the 48-hour train ride from Beijing to Mongolia. During the journey, Robert gave free art lessons to anyone who wanted to learn, which included him. When they arrived in Mongolia, he urged Jetro to keep painting. Says Jetro: “That trip changed me, and not long after, I held my first international art exhibition. Robert always saw my potential, even when I couldn’t see it myself.”
The 20-year relationship of Jetro and Robert reached its end on November 5 last year when Robert breathed his last. Their bond, says Jetro, was all about giving, receiving, and sharing unconditional love, love that doesn’t end, transcending time and space. It continues to live beyond this life. “Through our journey together, I discovered deeper skills, talents, and gifts within myself. My knowledge of food, nutrition, and sacred well-being expanded and deepened…which I applied to Robert’s healing and recovery—in mind, body, heart, and soul,” emphasizes Jetro.
On dying, meanwhile, Robert concludes: “I know he will come as a friend and will say, ‘Good job, Robert! Time to rest now.’ Then I will be free of this tired and weary body. I will be able to run and sprint and jump and fly. I will reunite with my parents, loved ones, and pets who have gone before me. It will be a great day.”
Jetro Rafael continues his advocacy for Living Food by giving lectures, such as this one on Dec. 8, 2024, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish, Project 8, QC, of the “running priest,” Fr. Robert Reyes (left).
That childlike quality and humor of Robert drew Jetro to him. Their journey of healing through living food cemented their unconditional love forged in their common affliction. Nowadays, Jetro continues his VGiB Love Project, which he considers “a living advocacy for people ready to love, heal and empower themselves.”
JetRobert Family
For VGiB’s comprehensive menu, schedule, and reservations, one may visit bit.ly/vgibreservationform. It’s first come-first served for à la carte dining, meanwhile. For immediate inquiries, contact Ms. Raine at tel. no. (+63 954) 417-7435.
