BALANGA CITY, Bataan , Philippines – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently launched the bamboo school desks in this province to further propagate the production and use of bamboo in the country, said DTI provincial director Yay Lasam.
Lasam led the turnover of 25 new bamboo school desks to eager Grade 1 pupils of the Balanga Elementary School.
The school became the first recipient of the bamboo desks in Bataan and the second in Central Luzon and the country, after the J. Paule Elementary School in Lubao, Pampanga.
“Makinis at malamig (Smooth and cool),” the school children exclaimed as they touched the bamboo desks.
Balanga City Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III, acting City Schools Supt. Jessie Ferrer and other school officials with the staff of DTI and other agencies of government witnessed the turnover.
The DTI wants to promote the cultivation and use of bamboo as an environment-friendly industry that will help in climate-change mitigation.
The DTI intends the engineered bamboo project to supply about 25 percent of the P10-billion desk requirements of the Department of Education, Lasam said. – Ric Sapnu