Not many know that an Executive Order was promulgated on May 14, 2010 to prioritize the product development, promotion, and market access of our bamboo products. A Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC) was created under Executive Order No. 879 composed of the following: a) Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry as Chair; b) Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources; c) Secretary of the Department of Agriculture; d) Secretary of the Department of Education; e) Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology; f) Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment; g) Chair of the Executive Committee; h) League of Municipalities of the Philippines; i) Two (2) Representatives from Non-Governmental Organizations; j) One (1) Representative each from two (2) Private Industry Associations.

Bamboo, once regarded as the poor man’s timber has long-gained worldwide popularity. Not for its traditional multi-faceted uses in craft items but for its technical construction qualities. Its stability, hardness, flexibility and high-density strength. An architect capsulizes the astounding capabilities of bamboo as a construction material this way: “Beautiful bamboo is stronger than steel in tension, stronger than concrete in compression and more stable than red oak.”

The continuing bamboo research in other countries (like China, Vietnam, India, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand) has produced new engineered applications of bamboo. While we in the Philippines are still using bamboo basically for craft items, in other countries, bamboo’s original round pole have been cooked, pressed, sliced. Split, chipped, and processed to create the flat look and other forms of bamboo – and unbelievably the once considered poor man’s timber has been transformed into super strong and durable construction materials as: Flooring (like parquets and tiles); structural components (like beams, posts and frames); boards (like sawali boards, particle boards); and architectural and interior materials (like mouldings, jambs, stair treads, paneling, and laminates).

One remarkable competitive advantage of bamboo over other construction materials is its astounding reproduction rate. By the way, bamboo with an estimated 1,200 species worldwide is a grass not a tree. Many do not know that some species of bamboo can grow up to 3.3 feet (more than one meter) a day. In fact, some varieties of bamboo reach heights of more than 100 feet.

We are all familiar with bamboo. But not many of us know the peculiarities of bamboo. To date, there are 16 local varieties of bamboo in the Philippines that grow in different parts of the country. Some of the native varieties of bamboo in our country today are the kawayan tinik, bayog, botong, buho, bikal, kiling and la-ak. In Cotabato, we have also the giant bamboo variety.

In China, there is a variety of bamboo that grows practically everywhere. It is the mozo variety which is being used to make doors and flooring. In Netherlands, there is a company that specializes in making laminated bamboo flooring using the mozo variety of bamboo. The company’s name is Plyboo.

Here are other salient features of Executive Order No. 879, which took effect on May 25, 2010, the day the Executive Order was published in a newspaper of general circulation.

• An Executive Committee to assist the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC) in terms of program/project identification and resource generation will be headed by the Undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the Regional Operations and Development Group (RODG);

• The Executive Committee shall direct the preparation of the Philippine Industry Development Plan 2010-2020;

• A Bamboo Technical Working Group headed by the Executive Director of the Cottage Industry Technology Center (CITC of DTI) shall be the Secretariat of the Council;

• The Department of Education (DEP-ED) is directed to use bamboo to the equivalent of at least twenty percent (20%) of the annual school desks and other furniture requirements of all public elementary and secondary schools nationwide;

• The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the Forest Management Bureau (FMB), Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), and other concerned offices shall use bamboo as the planting material for at least twenty percent (20%) of its annual reforestation and rehabilitation areas especially in provinces and towns which are engaged in or have the potential to engage in bamboo-based industries or where trees are difficult to grow because of poor site quality, susceptibility to erosion or adverse and steep gradients. DENR, through the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) and other concerned offices, shall continuously generate bamboo production technology which shall be transferred and disseminated to farmers; and

• The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education (DEP-ED), Department of Science and Technology (DoST), Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) – each of these government agencies have a special role in the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC).

Have a joyful day!