Bamboo bikes to pedal Guimaras’ drive to become PHL’s bike paradise

The province of Guimaras added a new attraction to its Bike Paradise of the Philippines campaign with the launching of the Green Spark Project on Dec 7, 2020 at the Look-out Point 17 in Brgy. M. Chavez, San Lorenzo town.

The Green Spark Project, which features bicycles made of bamboos or “Bambikes,” promotes environmental awareness and sustainable tourism.

The project was initiated by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in partnership with Guimaras Wind, the provincial government of Guimaras, Bambike Revolution Cycles, and the Local Government Units (LGU) of San Lorenzo and Buenavista.

Reagahn C. Alcantara, Lead Specialist of the Corporate Initiatives and Advocates Division-Office of the President of NGCP, shared the rationale behind the initiative.

“Basically as the name connotes for itself ‘green spark,’ what we want to achieve here is to create a green revolution. We want to spark green revolution in the tourism sector. This Green Spark launching was supposed to happen on March kaso naabutan ng COVID-19 pandemic. This is one way of NGCP to contribute in a little way to the economy of Guimaras. We hope that through this Spark Project we could appreciate more the beauty of biking. This project was pushed through the efforts of the NGCP and the partner agencies,” Alcantara said during the launch.

Green Spark aims to transform communities to green communities by generating sustainable livelihood while providing ecotourism experience to locals and visitors alike.

The project provides livelihood to local communities in San Lorenzo town through ecotourism and low-impact development using the local renewable resource bamboo.

Elena Quezon, Provincial Economic Development Officer, said Guimaras is in gratitude to NGCP for believing that the island-province has the potential as a developing eco-tourism destination.

“Bambike” is a social-enterprise that creates sustainable jobs in rural villages through hand crafted bamboo bikes.

Guimaras now offers Bambike Ecotours using bamboo bikes to create unique and meaningful experiences off the beaten paths.

“Bambike” is also dedicated to growing the green economy and to sustain livelihood development.

San Lorenzo Vice Mayor Constantino Cordero Jr. thanked all stakeholders behind the endeavor.

“Ginakalipay ko gid sang daku ang pagpakita ninyo sang supporta sa banwa sang San Lorenzo. Kay nakita gid namon ang inyu enthusiast sa pagbulig kag pagsuporta sa amon banwa. Madamo gid nga salamat kag kabay pa nga mauswagon ang ini nga proyekto,” he said.

The program ended with a ceremonial biking headed by Lea Denise Belgira, Gold Medalist of women’s downhill mountain bike event of the Southeast Asian Games 2019.