Importance of Bamboo use in Caba, La Union. a Town in the Philippines (Essay Sample)

Importance of bamboo use in Caba, La Union
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The town of Caba is one of the smallest out of the 19 towns in the province of La Union (PSA, 2012) with only 4, 631 hectares of land (as of 2007) (NSCB, 2007). It can be found at the south of Bauang and Naguilian. The west of Naguilian and Aringay. And the north of Aringay(Google, n.d.). Its population consist of 21 244 people (as of May 1 2010) (PSA, 2012). Caba is mostly known because it is the birthplace of a national hero, Diego Silang the leader of the Ilocos Revolt wherein he has a monument at their plaza (Provincial Government of La Union, n.d.). Also, it was also known that Elipidio Quirino once taught in a local school in Caba, before being interested in politics thus having a monument too at the crossing of the national highway in Barangay Gana(Provincial Government of La Union, n.d.). Local bamboo furniture being the identity of the Municipality, yet it was only being made so that farmers can utilize their free time off-season (Provincial Government of La Union, n.d.).
One of the most blooming businesses in the province of Caba is bamboo furniture (Provincial Government of La Union, n.d.). One of the reasons bamboo use being a primary product even though it is classified as a "minor forest product" is because almost all of the lowland areas suitable for intensive cultivation are occupied (Paren, 2010). Another one of the reasons is that Bamboo stands out among the other woody plants because of its unique abilities. It has more or less 1500 uses, having a demand from several industries namely the cottage industry, the furniture industry, construction, farming and etc (Paren, 2010).
It has been said that bamboo is an inexpensive source of housing materials, furniture, handicraft, banana props, fish pens and other products (Paren, 2010). The young shoots of certain species are also used for food (Paren, 2010). The rhizomes in its roots help prevent soil erosion and control floods (Paren, 2010). A hectare of bamboo can sequester 12 tons of carbon dioxide hence it is one the agents for climate change reversal (de Guzman, n.d.). The abundance of bamboo resource in the Ilocos Region is potential for making La Union the Bamboo Capital of the North (de Guzman, n.d.).
With the fast, ever changing transitions of communities from rural to urban and loss of traditional societies because of Globalization and Capitalism (Tomlinson, 1999), Bamboo has become one of the best alternative uses in furniture because of the commercialization and the high prize of non-bamboo furniture in the market. One of the reasons why bamboo is one of the best alternative uses in furniture because it is categorized as a "minor forest product" or "secondary timber" because of the abundance of wood in natural forests in the past particularly the lesser known or commercially less accepted species for the reproduction of reconstituted panel products and because of its constraints in cultivating bamboo which may be monocarpic, fire tender and easily bruised (Paren, 2010).
There has still been no concrete reason on why bamboo has played a major part in the Philippine Culture, but I can provide some instances on where bamboo has played an important part in the Philippine Culture all around the country.
Philippine’s own version of adam and eve, it was said that the first Filipino Man ("lalaki”) and Filipino Woman ("babae”) came from a piece of bamboo according to a Visayan Myth (Paren, 2010).
Filipinos make a wide variety of musical instruments made of bamboo that is a part of their traditional culture, be it wind, string or percussion. Among the wind instruments are the kalaleng (Tinggian flute), bansik (Zambales Negrito flute), lantuy (Visayan bamboo clarinet), tulali (Sulod flute), sahunay (Tausug flute), diwdiw-es (Abra-Tinggian panpipe), nose flutes called baliing (Apayao) or kipanaw (Abra Tinggian) and budyong (Hanunuo Mangyan flute) (Bamboo information network, 2008).
Split and unsplit bamboo are used in Philippine folkdances. Examples of these are "tinikling”, "sinkil" and "subli" (Paren, 2010).
Filipino folk games also have bamboo as the heart of their instruments in playing. Example of these is "palo sebo" where in a greased bamboo pole with a prize tied at the end is a game always played during fiesta and "luksong kawayan" also uses bamboo poles or sticks as hurdles (Paren, 2010).
In history, particularly the Spanish period, bamboo mats were rolled to appear like cannons and were mounted on carts. Written evidence regarding this use was indexed by historians. On Sept 2 1896, a Filipino band composed of bamboo musical instruments was used to fool their enemies by attacking the Spanish Garrison (Paren, 2010).
From the ancient times up until now, Furniture was usually made of bamboo in the Philippines, especially in rural areas. These include "papag" (bed), "bangko" (bench), and "aparador" (cabinet) (source). On the other hand, basketry is the oldest and most common use of bamboo handicraft in the Phillipines(Paren, 2010).
Bamboo also played an important role in food and food preparation in the Philippines. Bamboo shoots being cooked as food or pickled and considered as a delicacy in many place one being Adobong Labong of the Ilocos Region (Paren, 2010). Bamboo containers being used to steam rice, the staple food of Filipinos (Paren, 2010). "banggarehan or paminggalan" is a traditional concept for bamboos made of cupboards where dishes are dried and kept. Split bamboo is woven and laminated to make plates. Bamboo skewers are used to roast pig while thinner sticks are used for barbeques and etc (Paren, 2010).
Bamboo is used as baskets for packaging fruits, fish and vegetables, agricultural implements and construction of animal drawn carts for transporting farm products. Bamboo is also used as props for banana and vegetables. Bamboo was also used to fetch water from body of waters (Paren, 2010).
In 1570’s when the Spaniards arrived in the country, the typical Filipino house was a "bahay kubo" it was built with a framework of bamboo poles (Paren, 2010).
The provincial government of La Union implemented the Bamboo Plantation Development Project throught Community Livelihood Assistance Special Program (CLASP) of the Department of Environment and ...