ILOILO CITY—The island province of Guimaras is eyeing to become the country’s bike paradise using the unique and iconic bikes it is producing made out of bamboo.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and Guimaras provincial government launched this week the Green Spark Project in San Lorenzo town.
“What we want to achieve here is to create a green revolution. We want to spark a green revolution in the tourism sector and a little way to contribute to the economy of Guimaras,” said Reagahn Alcantara of NGCP’s Corporate Initiatives and Advocates Division.
The Green Spark Project promotes the “bambikes” or the bamboo-made bikes. It aims for inclusive growth that will benefit local communities in San Lorenzo town. There’s a group of local residents that will create the bamboo-made bikes as bamboo is abundant in the town while others will serve as guides for visitors.
“This is a social-enterprise project that creates sustainable jobs in rural villages through hand crafted-bamboo bikes,” said Elena Quezon of the Guimaras Provincial Economic Development Office.
The Green Spark Project has also partnered with the local governments of San Lorenzo and Buenavista towns as well as Bambike Revolution Cycles and Guimaras Wind groups.