Redefining Bamboo: Initiative from the Grassroots

A housing participant of the
lowest income group in the Alliance's
community-managed housing in Iloilo
City presents her dream house during
the housing design workshop held last
April 16 to 17, 2012

One of the most challenging parts in the Alliance’s housing initiative is addressing the housing needs of the poor while at the same time ensuring the provision of decent housing giving highest regard to their income and affordability level. For the past years, since the start of the housing project implementation in 2008, the Alliance has been exploring strategies to lower down housing project cost. One of its innovations is the use of the Interlocking Compressed Earth Blocks (ICEB) which has indubitably helped realize the Alliance’s aim of reducing construction expenses. First, in terms of the minimal use of sand, gravel and cement mixture as filling for the hollow block walls and second because of its load-bearing capacity, there is no need for the construction of columns or posts which are conventionally used.

Housing participants express there dream houses through
drawings as illustrated above

With the commencement of the series of trainings and workshops for the lowest income group in the community-managed housing last April 16 and 17, 2012, the inconvenient truth which poses apprehension on the part of the alliance is the meager seventy thousand capital fund for housing construction, a relatively small amount which raises the following question: “what is the solution when faced with budget limitation?” The answer lies within the community’s inherent resiliency. An ordinary housewife would normally stretch the household budget in order to subsist in a week or a month by practically living according to means and by finding alternatives in order to save.

Bamboo poles such as these undergo
treatment using boric acid like the ones used in
the Alliance Bamboo Footbridge.

Bamboo is one of the practical alternatives being considered by the alliance in order to maximize the budget. Bamboo as a building material has long been utilized even by the early inhabitants of Iloilo City in particular and the Philippines in general. Despite the customary use of bamboo in building houses in the Philippines, the known fact which remains seemingly accepted by the general public is that bamboo houses will not last long like concrete houses do. To pave the way for the realization of bamboo application in housing projects, visits, meetings and discussions were initiated with the key public and private individuals, institutions and companies which have experiences and expertise in terms of the utilization of bamboo for construction purposes. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Office VI was tapped to solicit information regarding bamboo technology in Iloilo. DTI chairs the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council at the national level. On the other hand, the alliance also consulted with the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), the local partner academic institution of the alliance which operates a community-based bamboo enterprise development facility which advocates for the setting up of nurseries for bamboo plantations and the harvest of which will be used as materials for engineered bamboos. 

Sonia Cadornigara, HPFPI Regional Coordinator and Arch.
 Libutaque, TAMPEI President updates Prof. Prieto Carolino of UPV
regarding the upcoming Bamboo Workshop where the same would
be one of the resource speakers.

The alliance also visited the municipality of Maasin which is among the few local government units in the country which promotes the viability of bamboo and is considered as Iloilo’s bamboo-techno-demo area. Just recently, the alliance linked with Mr. Rex Dagdag, owner of the Elm and Oak Enterprises, Inc. in Oton, Iloilo which manufacture bamboo crafts and chemically treated bamboo for building houses. Dagdag won the bamboo garden lamp contract in January, 1999, at the Centre for International Trade Fair Exposition Mission (CITEM) Fair in Manila and he is presently doing consultancy work on bamboo related research.

These pile of bamboo poles are used to produce chopsticks,
one of the bamboo products manufactured by Iloilo Kawayan
Marketing of the Municipality of Maasin, Iloilo

Bamboo as a construction material is comparatively cheaper than concrete hallow blocks (CHB) or even the interlocking compressed earth blocks (ICEB) which is currently used in the alliance’s housing project. It can be used in a myriad of ways for building, such as for scaffolding, roofing, flooring, concrete reinforcement, walls and piping. A case in point is the alliances community-initiated bamboo footbridge in Matina, Davao City.

Bamboo Footbridge of the Matina Communities in
Davao City

Bamboo has a great capacity for shock absorption, which makes it particularly useful in earthquake-prone areas. It is extremely lightweight as compared with hardwoods and consequently, building with bamboo can be accomplished faster than building with other materials.

Bamboo is considered to be a sustainable and renewable alternative to hardwoods, foremost because it regenerates at exceptionally fast rates. It is also cost-effective, especially in areas where it is cultivated and is readily available. Transporting lightweight bamboo is less costly than transporting its heavier alternatives. In Iloilo, the UPV has conducted local researches on the availability of bamboo in the first and second district of the province and hopefully through the established partnership with the said academe, the alliance will be able to avail of such information.

Samples of engineered bamboo planks used to make bamboo
tiles, chairs and tables produced by the Pliantgraz Inc. in
Santa Barbara, Iloilo.

Construction using bamboo ordinarily does not require machinery and can be accomplished with simple tools. It is as long-lasting as its wooden correlates, when properly harvested and maintained. However, in order to ensure the longevity of bamboo houses, the alliance is looking towards the possibility of the use of chemically treated bamboo in combination with the ICEB.

This is a pilot housing demonstration project of the Alliance
in Matina, Davao City. Experiences in project implementation 
will serve as the Alliance's springboard to enhance future 
bamboo housing initiative.

As a response to social acceptance concern, the alliance will organize a Bamboo Workshop to commence on May 3-4, 2012. Such is paramount to its basic ritual on social preparatory activities. In particular, the workshop is expected to serve as a tool in changing the urban poor’s mind set towards bamboo as a construction material. With the combination of its strong partnership with the government agencies, academic institution, researches, workshop and training as well as the open mindedness and active participation of the urban poor sector in partnership with the local government unit, bamboo houses or a combination with ICEB is anticipated to be another breakthrough in the urban poor’s innovative slum upgrading initiative.