High-value products will soon be produced from old and unproductive rubberwood trees in Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay, with the launching of a processing plant early last month.
Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña led the inaugural ceremonies of the processing plant attended by heads of other stakeholder-agencies.
The rubberwood processing plant was installed with various woodworking equipment that will be used in making furniture, mouldings, finger-jointed lumber and joinery products.
The equipment include—portable sawmill, thickness planer, single end tenoner, pin router, shaper, boring machine, table saw, dust collector and other ancillary and specialized equipment—to process the rubberwood into furniture products.
In Zamboanga Sibugay, rubberwood trees are used for low-value products, such as fruit crates, pallets, firewood and charcoal.
With 210 hectares of old rubberwood trees, the Tambanan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (Tarbemco) plantations are expected to yield 31,500 cubic meters of good lumber for use in high-value applications.
The Tarbemco Rubberwood Processing Plant is the first rubberwood processing facility established by the Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute’s (DOST-FPRDI) project. On the pipeline are the pressure method wood treatment plant and the 5,000-board-foot-capacity furnace-type lumber dryer. The project costs P57 million and is funded by the DOST-Grants in Aid.
After completion, this set of facilities will become the Innovation Center for Rubberwood Processing in the Philippines.
Those who attended the inauguration of the processing plant include DOST-FPRDI Director Dr. Romulo T. Aggangan, Science Undersecretary for Scientific and Technical Services Dr. Carol M. Yorobe, DOST-Zamboanga Peninsula Director Martin A. Wee, Chairman Petronilo G. Licudan of Tarbemco, Naga Mayor Rino O. de los Reyes and Engr. Romel Duran from the Office of the Governor of Zamboanga Sibugay. S&T Media Service
Image credits: FPRDI photo