TWO years after its launch, the award-winning bamboo-engineered school furniture known as Silyang Pinoy-a chair-and-table set that transforms into a bed during evacuations-has yet to secure full adoption in Philippine schools, as its creators await a green light from the Department of Education (DepEd).
Edward Paul Marasigan, project leader of Silyang Pinoy at the Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI), told BusinessMirror in a phone interview that while talks with DepEd are ongoing, progress was hampered by the transition in leadership from former secretary Sara Duterte to Secretary Sonny Angara.
He said his team had already endorsed Silyang Pinoy, which won a silver award at the 2024 Seoul International Invention Fair (SIIF) in South Korea, to Angara and Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral, who recommended pilot testing in selected schools in the National Capital Region and Region IV-A to assess its performance.
Talks resumed only recently during the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC) forum, organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and partner agencies such as Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) for Bamboo Month. There, Marasigan presented the project anew to DepEd officials, who agreed to reassess the design on the condition that its core feature-as a convertible bamboo bed frame-remains intact.
‘Hopefully, DepEd will adopt this because it offers many benefits. Our country is often hit by typhoons, especially from September to December, and schools frequently serve as evacuation centers. In those situations, Silyang Pinoy can be especially useful,’ he said partly in Filipino.
The project, Marasigan added, was inspired by the country’s vulnerability to disasters and by Executive Order 879 (2010), which mandates that at least 25 percent of DepEd’s school furniture requirements be made from bamboo.
‘Hopefully, our policymakers will support us. This would be a big giveback to our people, especially since we are often struck by disasters and calamities. It truly fits the needs of our communities,’ he said.
The Philippines has an estimated 39,000 to 53,000 hectares of land planted with bamboo, capable of producing about 1.8 million culms annually, equivalent to roughly 2 metric tons for export, data from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) showed.
In 2021, the industry generated P143 million in domestic sales, supported 10,898 jobs and 5,012 MSMEs, and attracted P89.2 million in investments.
According to DOST-FPRDI Director Rico J. Cabangon, timely bamboo harvesting is crucial, as the plant typically dies within eight to 10 years; if left unharvested, it only goes to waste but also emits greenhouse gases.
‘Bamboo is a very important plant, not only in the Philippines but all over the world,’ Cabangon said in the forum.
In a separate event, he told BusinessMirror that sourcing school desks and armchairs from bamboo for DepEd would provide a ‘significant boost to the local industry. He added that traditional furniture designs also remain relevant, but enhancing bamboo-based products could make them more marketable.
Marasigan, meanwhile, recommended that even if the Silyang Pinoy project has not been fully adopted, the education department should at least require suppliers to use certified engineered bamboo from local sources, verified by DTI or other concerned agencies, to meet the rising demand. He noted that during furniture testing, some suppliers admitted that their raw materials were imported.
DepEd engineer Martin Joseph Sundo echoed this point, saying future bidding requirements could be revised to ensure certification that bamboo used in engineered furniture is locally sourced.
‘Right now, the bidding only checks general requirements such as permits. It would be better to have a separate certification specifically stating that all bamboo used is local,’ he said.
‘Definitely, farmers are the most important beneficiaries beyond the end users, who are the students,’ Sundo added.
However, Sundo explained that the school furniture program, a component of the Basic Education Facilities Fund, is responsible for providing desks and chairs to public classrooms and has prompted a push to redefine a ‘functional classroom’ to formally include such furniture.
‘We’ve been pushing for the reclassification or redefinition of a functional classroom to include school furniture,’ Sundo said.
He noted, however, that procurement is currently handled centrally, which limits the participation of smaller suppliers.
‘If school furniture is procured at the division or regional level, it will be more beneficial to smaller players. Right now, it’s centrally procured, so it’s too big, and small-time farmers won’t be able to enter,’ Sundo explained.
Reports show that between 2017 and 2019, DepEd distributed about 2.67 million chairs and desks made of plastic, wood, or metal-but none made of engineered bamboo.
In 2024, prototype units of the engineered school furniture were distributed to schools in Apayao, Palawan, and Camiguin-areas frequently hit by typhoons and often used as evacuation centers. Marasigan, meanwhile, said the feedback from these schools has been positive, and additional units are now lined up for testing in Zamboanga del Sur and Bukidnon.
He added that local government units, as well as legislators from Negros Occidental, have also expressed interest in supporting its wider rollout.