Like the ever-present coconut, sometimes called the Philippine “tree of life,” the bountiful bamboo is certainly a most common member of the country’s flora. Of the known 200 species and 23 genera, 30 species and six genera – both indigenous and introduced – are found in the Philippines. Undoubtedly the tallest giant of the grass family, it grows rapidly during the rainy season on a daily average of 30 to 40 centimeters.

The main function of the bamboo for Filipino is as a construction material. The posts, beams, and framework of many of our rural houses are made out of bamboo. Split bamboos can serve as roof tiles. When woven they can be made into sawali for sidings and partitions. Bamboo floors when waxed and polished have a beautiful finish. And bamboo slats can be used instead of iron bars for concrete construction.

Dr. Isagani R. Medina, professor of Philippine history at the University of the Philippines, mentions innumerable uses of bamboo in his article which is included in the encyclopedic Filipino Heritage series. Consider some of these samples, just to select a few from his formidable list.

In the absence of metal or plastic containers, long bamboo internode tubes are used for fetching water. Even Dr. Jose Rizal, as an exile in Dapitan, constructed a dam in 1894 which conveyed water to the town through bamboo conduits.

Bamboo skewers are used for barbecuing meat (tapa), dried fish, bananas, or sweet potatoes. Bamboo sticks are used as handles for ice-drop.

Native rice cakes are steamed on a platform made of bamboo slats. And puto bumbong, a Filipino delicacy made of glutinous rice, is also steamed in bamboo tubes.

Split bamboos are woven into flat baskets called bilao for winnowing palay, bithay, for sifting pounded rice; bakol, as a container for cereals and other produce; kaing or tiklis, for holding fruits and vegetables; and lastay or titay, for smoking tinapa.

Bamboo furniture run the whole gamut from chairs to tables, benches, stools, sofas, papag (bamboo beds), and aparador(cabinet). Bamboos are also made into hammocks, screens, lampshades, canes, fans, combs, flower vases, clothespins, decorative chains, backscratchers, coconut milk sieves, salakots(wide-brimmed hats), etc.

Clothes are stored in native suitcases made of shaved bamboo called tapipi.

Coin savings are deposited in a bamboo alkansiya or bank.

Chickens and other fowls are transported in a bamboo basket known as balutang.

A bamboo pole balanced across the carrier’s shoulder, called sisiw by Ilokanos and pingga by Tagalogs, is used by aguadores and vendors of taho, puto kutsinta, and other wares.

The bamboo paminggalan or cupboard is a standard part of most Filipino provincial homes.

The labong or young edible shoot is considered a succulent delicacy, sometimes made into atsara or mixed with other ingredients in lumpia.

Various bamboo paraphernalia are used in fishing – the baklad, salakab, salambaw, etc. For water transportation bamboo rafts(balsa) and tikin(boatman’s pole) are used.

In agriculture Filipino farmers use bamboo dibble sticks in planting. Bamboo sleds and carts are employed for transporting. Cart caravans from Pangasinan travel all over Luzon selling different products mostly made out of bamboo.

The sungkit, a long bamboo pole with a hook or a blade at one end, is used for picking fruits from tall trees.

A wide assortment of musical instruments – wind, stringed, or percussion – have been made out of bamboo. This is evidenced by the bamboo organ at Las Piñas which was constructed by Fr. Diego de Cera dela Virgen del Carmen in 1816, to the Musikong Bumbong of Bulakan and now the famous Pangkat Kawayan.

Our fietas would less festive without the bamboo palo sebo and the bamboo pabitin. And something will be missing in the Santacruzan if the procession does not pass under some bamboo arches.

Various Philippine folk dances use bamboos (tinikling,singkil,subli). Even folk songs like Lawiwis Kawayan, celebrate the beauty of the bamboo.

Our martinets believe that an effective method of driving some sense through the thick skulls of some boys – and girls too – is by applying a bamboo stick on their buttocks.

The lighted parol hanging from your window during Christmas has a bamboo frame. And children and some adults too, greet the new year by firing kanyong bumbong. Indeed, how can we wish each other “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” without bamboos?

From the bamboo cradle (duyan) to the makeshift bamboo cross over the puntod, bamboo is utilized. Indeed you cannot live, or even die, without the aid of the lowly bamboo.

The bamboo belongs to the grass family but what a noble grass.