How to eat a suman or why Dennis Rodman walked out

Can somebody tell me why organizers didn’t just serve Dennis Rodman’s suman without the banana wrapping? Basketball’s Bad Boy reportedly got mad yesterday when, after being served the glutinous rice delicacy, he ate it including the banana leaf wrapper.

Rodman is in Cebu for The Bad Boy Tour. He was scheduled to play at the Mandaue City Sports Complex last night in the NBA Legends vs. San Miguel All Stars matchup.

News of the walkout was all over the newsroom yesterday. I never got to talk to the reporters and photographers who were present during the press conference snubbed by the former Chicago Bulls and Pistons standout but this was confirmed by several sources.


One of the organizers, I was told, reportedly said Dennis was “very mad.” The basketball legend walked out shortly after having eaten the suman and the banana leaf wrapper. For those unfamiliar with the delicacy, a suman is cooked glutinous rice wrapped in banana or buri leaves. You’re not supposed to eat the wrapper.

The Philippine Rice Center Institute has a nice page on the different types of suman: from Sumang Bisaya, to Moron (a personal favorite) to Dodol.

I’m sure the incident will be all over Cebu newspapers and tabloids today. I still haven’t found online versions of the story as I write this, though.

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4 responses

  1. Was disappointed not to see on the list Cebu’s noted budbud kabog, which my sister never fails to serve us when we are around.

    But on Dennis Rodman, hopefully young banana leaf shoots were used as wrappers, not the mature and harder leaves.

  2. Hi Max,
    Or why didn’t anyone TELL him how to eat it? 😉

  3. Wow! I find this funny. How come nobody told him that the banana leaf is just wrapping for the suman?

  4. si rodman man ang sala kay wala sya common sense

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