Taking its corporate social responsibility a notch higher, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) recently turned over a P31 million financial aid to the city government of Alaminos, Pangasinan to fund its trailblazing Hundred Islands (HI) Engineered Kawayan project.

Currently, the city of Alaminos has a mini factory housing the machines procured from the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) for bamboo furniture production. The “HI e-Kawayan project” intends to construct a fully functional bamboo factory that will speed up and mass produce high quality furniture and school armchairs using engineered bamboos as materials.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat, Jr. believes that through the “HI e-Kawayan Project”, the locals of Pangasinan will be given better livelihood opportunities. “That is PAGCOR’s ultimate goal - to be able to help improve the lives of our countrymen and to make them productive citizens of their communities.”

Alaminos City Mayor Hernani Braganza said that “through PAGCOR’s funding, we can further develop the existing bamboo industry in the Ilocos Region, and eventually create new business and job opportunities in Pangasinan.” Close to 10,000 constituents of Alaminos City and nearby municipalities will directly benefit from the project.

The official groundbreaking for the bigger and more modern e-Kawayan factory was held last March 28, 2012 at the Maria Valdez Cornelio Techno-Demo Farm in Brgy. Tangcarang, Alaminos. This will be the first fully functional factory dedicated to bamboo furniture production not only in Region I but in the whole country.

“PAGCOR’s assistance will have a domino effect in the local economic development program of the city. Bamboo producers, workers and family enterprises will benefit from the project, not only Alaminians but also those living in the nearby towns of the 1st District of Pangasinan,” Braganza cited.

Sonny Valeña, 45, who lost his first job as a tractor operator several months ago, said the “HI e-Kawayan” initiative helped him get a new job. “Nung nagbukas po yung maliit na factory ng e-Kawayan, nag-training po ako ng isang buwan, at tinanggap naman ako bilang worker,” he said.

The father of three now continues to provide for his family by working for the e-Kawayan project. With the forthcoming construction of a bigger bamboo factory and its new components, more locals of Alaminos like Valeña will benefit from the initiative. “Maraming salamat po sa bumubuo ng proyekto at sa tulong ng PAGCOR, nabigyan kami ng trabaho,” he added.

Mayor Braganza decided to initiate the e-Kawayan project in their locality after seeing the engineered bamboo products of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Gester Tolentino, Alaminos City Agriculturist and Project Coordinator for e-Kawayan, shared that after seeing the ample supply of bamboo in Alaminos, the city government entered into a contract with MMSU for technology transfer and provision of training for the residents of Alaminos. The 1st District of Pangasinan, which includes Alaminos City, is the major supplier of bamboo in the province and Metro Manila.

According to Tolentino, the “HI e-Kawayan project” will initially supply the Department of Education’s (DepEd) armchair requirements. “Our goal is to address the 6,000 school chair requirements of the public schools in Alaminos. We hope to supply the other armchair requirements of the rest of Pangasinan in the coming years.”

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