Agri talk With Gov. Defensor! Unopposed Iloilo Governor To Launch Bamboo Industry

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., who is unopposed in his second term next year, yesterday embraced my proposal to start the Giant Bamboo Industry in the province, especially in the upland towns.

Gov. Defensor, who is related to my family by affinity and who comes from the same town in Iloilo as my late mother, expressed support for my advocacy for Green Philippines which involves the distribution of Giant Bamboo planting materials and Abuyog Sweet Jackfruit seedlings in all provinces of the country.

Yesterday, I turned over 1,000 Giant Bamboo planting materials to Gov. Defensor to start the development of the Bamboo Industry which aims to produce housing and building materials for export.

While Iloilo Province has a thriving bamboo processing enterprise mainly in Maasin town where a bamboo variety called “Kawayang Tinik” is used in producing chopsticks and toothpicks, Giant Bamboo opens an entirely new industry.

I also promised to support his Coffee and Cacao Farming Program especially in the upland towns of Iloilo by providing him with good planting materials from Mindanao.

A truckload of Falcata seedlings, for Coffee and Cacao intercropping, along with 100 Buko Pandan coconut seedlings will also be donated by my farm, Braveheart Farms in Kidapawan City, to support Gov. Defensor’s agricultural program.

Our house-long conversation, which also included Board Member Matt Palabrica and Concepcion Mayor Raul Banias, hardly touched about politics and was focused mainly on agriculture.

It was a virtual family gathering with Gov. Defensor getting out of his office to meet me and escorting me to the frontage of the Capitol Building as I left his office.

Salamat gid, Gov. Toto Defensor!