LOVE for bamboo
Architect Antonio “Cris” Laino, an advocate of the use of bamboo timber for building homes and other structures, said that the durability of bamboo is equally the same as the strength of steel.
Laino advocated the growing and applying property treatment of bamboo which can be used to build homes and other structures that can help beautify the place.
His fondness for the use of bamboo was stirred when he attended the Bamboo boot camp/training that taught them more about the usefulness of bamboo.
They put up bamboo-made structures at Pugad Viewing Deck in Silay City in collaboration with the Tribu Ata of Don Salvador Benedicto.
He also put up structures on Danjugan Island, in Southern Negros, which came out beautiful and durable.
Bamboo can last longer if there is the proper treatment of it before it can be used as materials to build houses or the Bahay Kubo, cottages, among others. The proper treatment of bamboo can help strengthen its lifespan, quality and durability of bamboo.
He said bamboo was labelled as a poor man’s timber. But when he attended the Bomboo boot camp, the Bali structures were made of bamboo.
Bamboo was already part of the Filipino myth where Malakas and Maganda came out of the Bamboo. It is already part of our DNA as Filipinos. This bamboo helps build homes and other structures that are useful to our day to day life. The famous Bahay Kubo, the kitchen wall and utensils, household materials and even food, particularly the ‘Tambo’, a famous Filipino viand all come from bamboo.
The global community is working on the Bamboo tensile strength to be comparable with steel. They have computed the Bomboo’s tensile (bend) structure which is being used as a substitute for steel. It has been a long practice but was not revived due to the ‘saliksik and bokbok’ which are the residues of the starch and sugar in bamboo which is eaten by termites. But with proper treatment, it can stay long.
Tending bamboos
On the other hand, bamboos are like children. One has to take care of it, such as growing it, treating it well, harvesting it and using it. How to choose bamboo, one has to choose the right age (mature), harvest, treat, and use it.
The treatment before was to soak it with salted water. If you live in a mountainous area, the treatment of bamboo is done differently for those living near the shorelines.
It is easy to plant bamboo. All you need is to cut the tip of a growing bamboo and plant it, and then it will grow on its own without the need to water or cultivate it. Only a few plant bamboo flourish because few believe in the product.
For instance, you will make a hole at both tips or ends of the bamboo and place it in a stream, which is already one bamboo treatment. The second treatment is if you are making charcoal and boiling water in a pan, that will eliminate or kill the sugar and starch in the bamboo.
The bamboo industry in the Philippines is thriving, but it's behind Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia. But the Philippines is getting there since the country needs catalysts to provide interest in other industries, creating more opportunities to make this grow further.
There are non-plantable (slope) areas in sugarcane farms which can be allocated for bamboo planting. It can prevent soil erosion, and also bamboo can grow there.
But why do Bali, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand and other European countries and South American countries believe in the quality and beauty of bamboo? Why aren’t Filipinos maximizing it since our myth and origin about Malakas and Maganda came from the said plant?
“I am advocating for bamboo as a material for housing because it is part of the Filipino DNA. As long as bamboo will not be frequently exposed to rain and it has undergone proper treatment and proper harvest mature bamboo aged between 3-5 years, can last long up to approximately 20 years. Here is the trivia, the bamboo has a baby, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. The baby bamboo ages one-year-old. That baby bamboo will turn into a mother ages 2-3 years old. This is used to cook Tambo. The grandmother bamboo fits to be harvested at ages 3-5 years old which is good for harvesting. Bamboo timber can be utilized faster than wood. The great-grandmother can also be used,” he said.
Bamboo timber has the potential to grow as an industry in the future, he said.
“I continue to encourage others to plant and grow bamboo because this will be a good industry in the future. We can improve more on the use, designs and proper treatment,” he said.*