South Cotabato celebrated World Bamboo Day today (September 18) with the simultaneous holding of Bamboo Summit and Kawayan Festival with its theme, ‘Kawayan: Kalikasan, Katatagan, Kabuhayan, Kaunlaran” held at the PROTECH Center.
Emmanuel Jumilla, South Cotabato Economic and Investment Promotions Officer (SCEIPO) and Program Coordinator of the Kawayan Festival formally welcomed the participants of the whole-day summit and were likewise acknowledged by Rogelio Acosta, Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance (AVLDA) Program Manager.
Speakers coming from national line agencies were also invited to share their knowledge on various topics, such as “Accessing Government Incentives, Opportunities and Programs Towards bamboo Industry development” by Nadil Hadji Tassin of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 12 and Ria Hallarsis of the Department of Trade and Industry provincial office; Emerging Bamboo-related Technologies, trends and Potentials by Forester Gregorio Santos Jr of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The highlight of the summit was the ceremonial turnover of an Engineered Bamboo School Chair by Surallah National Agricultural School (SUNAS) to members of the South Cotabato Bamboo Industry Development Council (SCBIDC) which will eventually supply 1,000 school chairs to the province as stipulated in the MOA signed by the two parties.
Likewise, Best Performing LGUs and individuals from South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat were recognized by AVLDA and PEMO before the culmination of the program.
