A little help for 'Mr. Bamboo'

Igot an unexpected letter in my mailbox last week from a Baguio-based artist named Rogelio Bibal, whom I’d never met before, but whose work and situation seemed compelling enough that I thought I should share it with you. Rogelio produces functional bamboo sculpture, but beyond fashioning bamboo into pretty yet useful objects, he has also developed a passion for the plant itself and for its propagation in this country. It wouldn’t be wrong to call him “Mr. Bamboo,” given his interest in both the artistic and scientific aspects of bamboo.

In September 2009, he was among our country’s representatives to the 8th World Bamboo Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. “I witnessed the inclusion of bamboo as one of the priority species for mitigation, adaptation and development by the United Nations. It was also at this event that a declaration was made to celebrate World Bamboo Day every September 18th of the year,” he said.

Rogelio is involved in propagating bamboo in La Trinidad, Benguet where, he says, “Thirty monopodial or running bamboo species were introduced last May 2007.

These monopodial bamboo species — the kind of bamboo that shoots at a distance — comprise ornamental bamboos, sweet bamboo shoots-producing species, and timber-producing species. The project was a collaborative effort of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Beijing, China, the Rotary Club of Makati Central and the Cordillera Bamboo Development Council of Benguet State University.”

Citing the work of Dr. Celso Lantican of the Bamboo Network of the Philippines, Rogelio notes that our total bamboo coverage in this country is only around 52,000 hectares. Also, most of what we know about bamboo is concerned with the sympodial type of bamboo, or bamboo that grows in clumps. “There is little information about monopodial bamboo species in terms of propagation, plantation establishment and utilization since this species is still new to us,” he adds.

Since monopodial bamboo species were introduced in Benguet in 2007, Rogelio has been engaged in developing technologies to propagate them further not only in Benguet but other places like Tagaytay and Bukidnon whose cooler temperatures can support monopodial bamboo stands.

Now here’s Rogelio’s problem: he has been invited to attend the 2010 International Training Workshop of Bamboo to be held Sep. 7 to 27 in Zhejiang, China, organized by INBAR and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. He’s eager to attend this workshop, which will sharpen his skills further and provide invaluable new knowledge about bamboo that he won’t find anywhere else, particularly in respect of monopodial bamboo.

But he needs a kind donor to help him shoulder his fare to China and part of his hotel bill. His Chinese sponsors have already agreed to waive the training fee of US$350, to foot half his hotel bill, and to cover some local travel costs. Unfortunately, unlike many of our more traditional artists who work in oils and canvases (any one of which, I often kid these painter-friends, will take me 10 novels to earn), bamboo artists like Rogelio Bibal — despite exhibits at the CCP and other prime places — don’t make too much.

So if anyone out there is as moved by bamboo as much as Rogelio is and can offer some help, I suggest they get in touch with him soonest at rbibal2020@yahoo.com.

*   *   *

Despite a low-grade fever and an unseasonable attack of gout, I flew down to Dumaguete two Saturdays ago to fulfill a commitment to teach a one-day class on the short short story (or “sudden fiction,” as it’s more commonly called these days). I had a wonderful time with the Silliman University students, for which I’d like to thank SU English Department chair Dr. Eve Mascuñana, who arranged the visit, and Prof. Philip Van Peel, whose class I took over for the day.

Beyond the class, however, a happy bonus was a short trip up to Camp Lookout — a valuable piece of property owned by Silliman up in foothills of Mt. Talinis in Valencia, about 45 minutes from the downtown campus. I remember having gone up there for the first time in 1981, when it was little more than a ramshackle cottage with only the most spartan appointments; even so it was a pretty place, with falling stars streaking across the night sky and ships crawling through the strait far below like glowworms in the moonlight.

The new Camp Lookout was anything but rundown. Under the administration of SU President Ben Malayang III — a philosophy major turned environmental scientist — the facility has been completely rehabilitated and expanded, with a two-story main hall and five duplex cottages, and has been renamed the Rose Lamb-Sobrepeña Writers Village, in honor of its main sponsor and in recognition of Silliman University’s pioneering role in promoting creative writing in the Philippines.

We’re referring, of course, to the Silliman (or Dumaguete) Writers Workshop started in 1962 by the late Dr. Edilberto Tiempo and his wife the National Artist Dr. Edith Tiempo. I myself was a product of this workshop, and I credit my going back to school to the Tiempos’ urgings and to a magic spell spun by Dumaguete resident wizard Cesar “Sawi” Ruiz Aquino. (And this is why, fever or no fever, I run when Dumaguete calls.)

The new Writers’ Village is a facility that other universities, including mine, can only envy. They held the workshop here for the first time last summer, and my friends on the panel came back with rave reviews — and now I can understand why. It’s not a luxury hotel by any means — you’d be hard put to tell that the duplexes were crafted out of shipping containers — but the beds and couches are comfortable, the scenery gorgeous, and the fragrance of pine (they also call this “Little Baguio” for a reason) uniquely bracing.

“The university uses this for all kinds of meetings,” said Dr. Mascuñana, “but writers always have priority.”

That’s my kind of place.

*  *  *

I had the privilege of visiting Israel a few months ago, and wrote about that memorable trip in a couple of columns where I observed how much of ancient Israel remained, and yet also how quickly it was moving into the high-tech future. Away from the headlines, the visit gave me the opportunity to witness Israeli society up close and personal.

Now two lucky Filipino students will enjoy the same opportunity I had, if they join and win “Discover Israel: 2010 College Quiz,” a college-level contest the Israeli Embassy is holding to test how much Filipino undergraduates know about Israel. The top two finishers will go on an all-expense-paid trip to the Holy Land, while the third-place winner will get a netbook from Acer Philippines. Many other sponsors will also be contributing other valuable prizes. They include Jollibee Foods Corp., Wow Videoke, ABS-Herbs Inc., Metro Market! Market! Department Store, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, The Peninsula Hotel, People’s Palace Restaurant, Sala Bistro, Lane Moving and Storage, Mineral Flowers (an all-natural skin care line using Dead Sea minerals), and National Book Store.

The qualifying round will be held between August to September and the finals in October at De La Salle University. For school partnerships, please e-mail culture@manila.mfa.gov.il or call 892-5333 local 512. More details can be found at the Embassy website at www.manila.mfa.gov.il.

*  *  *

E-mail me at penmanila@yahoo.com and visit my blog at www.penmanila.net.