The Negros Oriental Bamboo Industry Development Council (NOBIDC) has lined up various activities in celebration of Philippine Bamboo Month this September.
This is in collaboration with the private sector and government agencies, Jade Krystle Bato, spokesperson of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said in Dumaguete City yesterday.
“The main event of the celebration in the province is the bamboo planting activity on World Bamboo Day on September 18 in Tanjay City,” she said.
Additionally, NOBIDC member Kawayan Collective Agricultural Cooperative, a private establishment based in Dauin, Negros Oriental, will also open on the same day a franchise outlet in Tanjay City.
Kawayan Collective, a member of the Philippine Bamboo Council, has its first franchise in Tarlac and is known for its bamboo products and modular homes, among others.
A highlight of this month’s celebration is the offering of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) for a course on engineered bamboo, bamboo processing, and bamboo production, Bato said.
This is the first offering of its kind that will have a National Certificate II (NC II) accreditation from Tesda, she added.
The Bayawan City government and Tesda will meet on September 15 to set up an assessment center before offering the technical-vocational courses.
Bato said that due to the National Greening Program, almost all of the province’s river banks have been planted with bamboo.
There is great potential to further harness the bamboo industry in Dumaguete, given the necessary skills, training, and market for the industry players, not just as a “poor man’s lumber” but also for other products and purposes, she added.
Other activities include hands-on Bamboo Construction Workshops at Kawayan Collective and a meeting on the Bamboo Housing Project for former rebels in Basay town.
The DTI is the secretariat of the council, as bamboo is one of the agency’s priority industry clusters, aside from coffee and cacao.
It is campaigning with the local government units to establish their bamboo councils to focus on their own industries and help promote the local industry, she added. (PNA)