Howie Severino showcases his bamboo house

Bamboo seems to be enjoying a renaissance these days, what with several, erm, modern items cropping up made with the grass.

There's the popular Bambikes, bicycles made with bamboo, bamboo speakers, bamboo watches, bamboo sunglasses, and as seen on journalist Howie Severino, bamboo helmets and bamboo bowties.

In Saturday’s episode of “i-Witness” that looked at the resilient grass as a building material, the Kapuso journalist also showcased his house made of bamboo.

“Classical tropical design itong ginawa namin," Severino began. "Pero it turns out, it’s also the perfect design for a pandemic kung saan napaka-importante [ng] ventilation,” he said.

Almost everything about the house is made of bamboos. He even refused the use of nails, opting instead the use of dowels made with — you guessed it — bamboos in their place to keep the house sturdy and in place.

“Sinabi namin na gusto namin magkaroon ng sahig na gawa sa kawayan pero ayaw namin gumamit ng pako so, ang ginawa ay dowel na gawa sa kawayan sa halip na sa pako.”

“Ayaw naming gumamit as much as possible ng tinatawag na modern materials katulad ng bakal, mga pako o yung fixtures na nabibili sa hardware.”

Aside from being a fan of the material, Severino said using bamboo for his house is also something of a tribute, to our forefathers who used bamboo in their time.

“’Pag nagpagawa ka ng kahit anong bagay na gawa sa kawayan, parang tinutularan mo [na] yung mga ninuno natin na matagal nang wala sa mundo.”

According to Severino, it is in his bamboo house that he felt safest.

“Sa isang banda, damo nga lang daw ang kawayan — pang-bahay kubo, pang-mahirap, gagamitin mo lang kung wala nang iba.”

“Ngunit para sa mga nagtitiwala rito, at kawayan ang pinili sa halip na iba, ramdam na namin kung bakit (dito) nagmula sila Malakas at Maganda. Ngayong panahon ng pandemya, natuklasan ko rin na sa kawayan ako pinaka-ligtas.”

Aside from the house and several pieces of furniture, the veteran journalist has also been using a bicycle made from bamboo for eight years now. — Franchesca Viernes/LA, GMA News