Tuburan mayor: 11,000 bamboo seedlings for environment, livelihood of farmers

Tuburan Mayor Democrito “Aljun” Diamante (4th from left) leads the ceremonial planting of bamboo seedling in Barangay Kabangkalan, Tuburan town during the celebration of the World Bamboo and Cleanup Day on Sept. 17. | Contributed photo

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines — Eleven thousand bamboo seedlings were planted during the World Bamboo and Cleanup Day 2022 in Tuburan town on Saturday, September 17, 2022. 

Tuburan Democrito “Aljun” Diamante led the ceremonial planting of the bamboo seedlings in the town’s Barangay Kabangkalan, where the town planned to establish a Bamboo Kingdom and Bamboo Tunnel.

Diamate said that this was part of the town’s ecotourism program since bamboos could be sources of food and livelihood for their farmers.

“Atong gi-expect ani nga makatabang ta sa environment, at the same time aduna unyay livelihood unya nga atong ma-introduce pinaagi sa bamboo. Gawas nga makatabang ta sa environment, makatabang pa gyud ta sa kinabuhi sa atong mga kaigsuonang kabus,” Diamante said.

(We expect this to help our environment, at the same time, we also have livelihood that we can introduce using the bamboo. Aside from that we can help the environment, we can also help in the lives of our poor constituents.)

He said that aside from Kabangkalan, bamboo seedlings were also planted today in 47 other barangays of the town.

He said this variety of bamboo that was planted during World Bamboo Day was a giant bamboo, which could also help in mitigating floods and preventing soil erosion.

He also said that in two to three years, farmers could already take advantage of these bamboos for their livelihood.

The bamboo seedlings were provided by Fr. Victor Labao of the Kabilin Bamboo Center. 

Diamante said that originally, each bamboo seedling cost P500, but it was only sold to them at P200 for each seedling.

He also said that the town had not spent any amount on the project since they had donors, and other national government agencies had also helped them in purchasing the seedlings.

Tuburan Mayor Democrito Diamante (4th from left in green t-shirt) says that 11,000 bamboo seedlings have been planted on Sept. 17 in 47 barangays of the town to mark the World Bamboo and Cleanup Day. | Contributed photo

“In every barangay, duna ta’y gi-create nga people’s organization. Sa peoples organizations sila maoy partners sa atong mga barangay, so secured and assured nga modako gyud ang kawayan,” Diamante added.

(We created people’s organizations in every barangay. The people’s organizations, they are our partners in our barangays, so it is secured and assured that the bamboo would grow big.)

Environment Undersecretary Jun Adobo, for his part, has described the activity as successful even before it has started because of the large number of participants.

“The sheer number of attendees can already tell us that this is a success,” Adobo said.

He said that the activity  could contribute a lot to the environment.

Adobo said that they also planned to expand their National Greening Program (NGP), a reforestation program of the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), by implementing it directly in the barangay.

“Among tan-awon didto, we would like to partner, mao ni suggestion sa among vice chair for appropriation. Mga barangay na mismo kasi we’ve been doing this industrially. So mao na among pagtan-aw para ma-successful pa among programa,” he said.

(We will see there, we would like to be partners, that is the suggestion of our vice chair for appropriation. Our barangay will be the one, because we’ve been doing this industrially. So, that is how we look at it so that our program will be successful.)

Those, who attended the ceremonial planting of the bamboo seedlings at Barangay Kabangkalan included Vice Mayor Danilo Diamante, members of the Sangguniang Bayan, and barangay officials.

Also present were Agriculture Assistant Secretaries Gilbert Gonzales and Salvador Diputado; Agriculture Executive Regional Director Joel Elumba; and Rep. Daphne Lagon (Cebu sixth district).

Tuburan is a second class municipality of the province of Cebu. It is approximately 93 kilometers northwest of Cebu City.

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