P5-T Market Demand! 2-M Has. Of Bamboo Could Generate P4-T

The Philippine Government should seriously consider the launching of a National Bamboo Industry Development Program targeting 2-million hectares over the next 5 years if it intends to reduce the trade deficit which now stands at $58.3-Billion, roughly P3.2-Trillion.
The worldwide demand for Bamboo products, especially engineered bamboo for construction, is growing by leaps and bounds and by 2031, the market size is expected to reach $99.8-B.
While there is an on-going movement to promote the planting of Bamboo, especially the huge Giant Bamboo, this is largely undertaken by private advocacy groups.
Aside from the passage of a measure creating the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council and allocating P1-B for the program, government’s efforts had merely been on meetings, seminars and a few ceremonial planting.
What is needed is a national action to plant Bamboo, especially in the denuded highlands of the country to serve two purposes – start an industry which could generate jobs and revenues and contribute to the prevention of soil erosion.
In Bukidnon, a private corporation headed by Bob Tinsay and Rod Bioco, who is now the National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator, is establishing a modern Bamboo processing facility which could serve as a model for all bamboo growing provinces in the country.
Bob Tinsay estimates an income of P1-M from Bamboo Poles alone per hectare which means that if 2-million hectares are planted all over the country, the poles alone could generate a gross earnings of P2-T.
Processed into engineered bamboo and other materials, the added value is estimated to be double of the raw materials thus the potential of building a P4-T industry which is sustainable and offers environmental benefits.
What needs to be done now is for the Philippine government to establish a National Bamboo Agency which would coordinate with all other instrumentalities of government, including the private sector, to start planting the Giant Bamboo in all public lands including the vast Ancestral Domain Areas.
In 5 to 8 years, with 2-million hectares planted, the country will be exporting huge volumes of Bamboo Products which could reduce our trade deficit, generate P4-T annual revenues, create jobs and most of all help prevent flooding and protect the environment.
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!