TINUKOY ni Senator Cynthia Villar ang mga pakinabang mula sa bamboo.
Dahil sa maraming economic at ecological benefits, nanawagan si Sen.Cynthia Villar sa publiko at lahat ng concerned government agencies na patuloy na palaganapin ang bamboo o kawayan.
“The Sustainable Development Goals noted that bamboo has the potential of supporting sustainability in economic growth as it grows very fast and can be grown easily in different climate conditions and altitudes and thus, reduces the pressure on trees producing timber for products for wood,” ayon kay Villar.
“After harvesting, bamboo regrows from its own root system, it doesn’t need to be planted again,” sabi pa ni Villar, kasabay ng pagkilala sa kahalagahan ng bamboo forests play sa global carbon cycles at carbon sink.
Keynote speaker ang senator, chairperson ng Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, sa Bamboo Month and World Bamboo Day Celebration na pinangunahan ng Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC).
Sinabi niya na ang temang “Buong Bansa Magtanim: Kawayan para sa Kalikasan, Kabuhayan, Kaunlaran at Kinabukasan!” ay nakaakit sa pagtatanim ng bamboo.
Nagkaroon din ng ceremmonial bamboo planting sa CITE Bambusetum.
Noong May 2023, sinabi ni Villar na iniulat ng PBIDC na nakikipag-ugnayan sila sa Philippine Textile Research Institute upang makakuha ng kawayan para magamit na fiber sa Miag-ao, Iloilo at Dapitan City sa Zamboanga del Norte.
Para sa housing naman, nakikipag-ugnayan sila sa Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development na nangangasiwa sa socialized housing program ng pamahalaan.
“And it is also looking at the potential use of bamboo for charcoal and biomass production, which is a cheaper, energy-efficient and is ecology-friendly, in partnership with the Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI),” aniya.
Ayon kay Villar, kilala ang kaniyang home city— ang Las Piñas sa 19th-century old at world-renowned bamboo organ na nasa Saint Joseph Church sa Diego Cera Street.
“We are also known as Metro Manila’s Parol Capital where bamboo is the main raw material for their lantern making,” ayon pa sa kaniya.
Noong July 2005, itinayo ng Villar Foundation ang Bambusetum na ipinagmamalaki ang 30 klase ng kawayan. Itinayo rin ang Bambusetum na may 28 uri ng kawayan sa Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park na Ramsar Wetland of International Importance.
Ipinahayag din niya na ang Las Piñas ay may Bamboo Processing Factory na gumagawa ng mga kapaki-pakinabang at magagandang ‘bamboo steps’ na binibili ng kanilang kompanya.
