San Clemente, Tarlac — At least 20 Tarlaqueños, all hailing from Sitio Dueg of this town were recently given proper skills training on the creation of bamboo novelty items by the Department of Trade and Industry.

DTI OIC-provincial director Florencia Balilo said that the trainees were members of the Dueg Resettlement Entrepreneurs and Marketing Association who were given training, which aims to upgrade their skills and competitiveness.

She added that with the upgrade and gear up of skills, the area of Sitio Dueg will flourish as the production site of bamboo novelty items in Tarlac.

"We would like to prepare the community for the envisioned Dueg Artisanal Craft Village which would provide a venue to showcase the traditional skills, crafts, and tribal practices of the indigenous peoples of Dueg," Balilo said.

Dueg Artisanal Craft Village is the proposed bamboo development project of the Tarlac Bamboo Industry Development Council.

During the seminar, resource speaker Carlo Dizon demonstrated the techniques of creating bamboo keychains and refrigerator magnets including the process of cutting, skin scraping, sizing, sanding, designing, painting and coating.