PBBM urged to certify bamboo industry bill ‘urgent’

BAMBOO industry stakeholders on Thursday appealed to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to certify as urgent the Senate version of the proposed “Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Act” following the passage of its counterpart, House Bill 7941, at the House of Representatives earlier this week.

In an interview, Rene “Butch” Madarang, executive director of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC), said the enactment of a legal framework for the bamboo sector cannot be understated in view of the growing international market for high-value products made from engineered bamboo. He recalled that a bamboo industry measure has been previously passed by the House, only to fizzle out at the Senate.

Madarang expressed optimism that this time, with the President’s prodding, senators will waste no time in approving their version of the proposed law.

The official lamented that the bamboo sector has been so neglected by past administrations that “the PBIDC has been operating on a zero budget.”

“We (the PBIDC) manage to get by (with no funding) because our officers are mostly ranking Cabinet men, so they are able to find the resources to ensure that we can have periodic meetings, and remain operational somehow,” he said.

The PBIDC is an agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Madarang pointed out that on Tuesday, Floridabased bamboo grower and processor Rizome announced a $100 million (P5.5 billion) investment in Cagayan de Oro.

The multi-billion peso investment will finance the cultivation of bamboo over a huge swath of land, which when harvested will be processed into engineered bamboo at the company’s factory in the province.

Former Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr., a global investor at Rizome Philippines through subsidiary Bamboo Ecologic Export Corp. (BEEP), said that the company is bringing in cutting-edge, proprietary technology in bamboo wood manufacturing.

He revealed that Rizome is progressively infusing capital into its Cagayan de Oro plant.

"I want to bring the best technology here. I don't want the Philippines to be second class. The investment is big. But (even now) our business is already a billion