The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has thrown its support behind a proposal to create a bamboo coordinating agency so the Philippines could seize a sizable share of the $20-billion global bamboo market.
In a statement released through Growth Publishing, the Ecosystem Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) said the DENR supports the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 1478, or the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Act (Philbida).
SB 1478 aims to create the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC).
The ERDB is promoting the massive cultivation of bamboo. Being a country endowed with rich freshwater resources, the attached agency of the DENR said the Philippines has the potential to grow bamboo and establish plantations for its commercial and industrial use.
Bamboos usually grow and thrive along rivers and around lakes, or any area where there’s adequate water.
The Philippines has 412 principal rivers, including 18 major river basins. It also has 113 proclaimed watersheds.
Bamboo poles are used for construction, while processed wood can be used for furniture and decorative floors or walls to add value to a building’s interior design.
The ERDB is also conducting various research and development activities to help boost the application of bamboo technologies in the Philippines.
Sen. Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, the author of the bill, said the bamboo industry can generate numerous jobs and be a top exporter and dollar generator.
“With only a handful of countries competing in the bamboo industry worldwide, there is a great potential for the Philippine bamboo industry to get the bigger pie in the world market and be on the top export products of the country,” Zubiri said.
He added the absence of a government agency focused on bamboo hinders the development of the industry.
“Currently, there is no institution that is dedicated to oversee the development of the bamboo industry. Among the impediments to realize a bamboo industry in the Philippines are the dispersed programs, unsupportive policies and lack of incentives to attract investments,” Zubiri said.
SB 1478 will also create under PBIDC the Bamboo Industry Research and Development Center (BIRDC), which will promote establishment and management of bamboo nurseries, plantations and processing facilities that would accelerate the production and commercialization of bamboo and various bamboo products and promote market access of its technologies and products.
BIRDC will also evaluate the performance of industry programs and projects; partner with the private sector and other government and non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the Philippine Bamboo Roadmap (PBR); accept grants, donations and contributions from local and international donors; and conduct capability-building initiatives for farmers, processors, designers and other 10 stakeholders.
According to the ERDB, many enterprises are still using wood working, machines which are not suitable tools for processing bamboo. There is also a growing shortage of supply of bamboo raw materials.
The ERDB provided technical inputs into the proposed measure through the Technical Working Group supported by bamboo experts and scientists of the ERDB, led by its director Dr. Henry A. Adornado.
SB 1478 was proposed by the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship jointly with the Committees on Finance, and Ways and Means.
Zubiri said during a hearing on May 30 that Philbida is based on the targets in the PBR, which includes scientific propagation, processing, utilization, business development and commercialization of Philippine bamboos.
The PBR requires bamboo to take at least 20 percent of the annual planting materials needed in the National Greening Program. It mandates the use bamboo in the manufacture of at least 25 percent of desks and chairs in public primary and secondary schools.
Zubiri said bamboo growing has important environmental benefits, absorbing carbon dioxide better than trees and provides 35 percent higher oxygen than trees.
It also aids in riverbanks stabilization and erosion control. After the sponsorship speech on May 30 by Zubiri, Sens. Richard J. Gordon and Loren B. Legarda expressed their appreciation of the bill.
The country’s bamboo roadmap targets expansion of bamboo nurseries with quality planting materials. It ensures propagation and breeding, site species matching and plant nutrition, soil and water-conservation practices and encourage bamboo backyard farming.
Twenty-three bamboo propagules of kawayan kiling, kawayan tinik, giant bamboo, yellow bamboo, iron bamboo and variegated bamboo, including information materials were distributed by ERDB to the senators.