That is from an email by City Councilor Manuel Arbon, explaining his principal authorship of an ordinance prescribing the City’s main commercial thoroughfare, Perdices St., to be closed to all kinds of motor vehicles on weekends and holidays, transforming it into the Perdices Promenade.
The proposed ordinance, co-authored by Councilors Antonio J. Remollo (whose cousin, former City Mayor and now Clark Development Corp. president/CEO Felipe “Ipe” Remollo, was the first to broach the idea as part of his development plan back in 2000), Joe Kenneth K. Arbas, Albert Aquino, and Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova, recognizes that “the City is for the promotion of wellness among its inhabitants, as well as, the reduction of air pollution in its territory…(and) closing certain roads to traffic on certain days could result to reduced air pollution and keep ecological balance, encourage more people to walk and be fit, or invite more customers to shop in stores along the roads and help the local economy in the process.”
The proposed ordinance also states that a portion of Perdices Street, from the junction of Silliman Ave. up to the junction at the Belfry of the Dumaguete Cathedral, is hereby declared as a “promenade”, and shall be referred to as the “Perdices Promenade.”
A convergence of several news items and articles appearing in the internet and online broadsheets further enhanced and strengthened the rationale of the proposed ordinance. An article in yahoo news (Aug 3) titled America’s Most Walkable Cities, 2011 reported that “A CEOs For Cities study based on Walk Score data insists that a walkable neighborhood adds an average $3,000 to a home’s selling price. And University of British Columbia Prof. Lawrence Frank found that residents of walkable neighborhoods tend to be at least seven pounds lighter than their counterparts in more sprawling areas.”
Two news reports referring to an ordinance and a Senate bill promoting bicycle lanes are likewise relevant to the proposed ordinance. One reports that: “After an uphill climb of more than eight years, the Bicycle Ordinance of Davao City finally got the approval of the City Council…The ordinance authored by Councilor Leo Avila III, was penned with the thought of promoting the use of bicycles to buffer the high and fluctuating cost of fuel for motor vehicle…help curb the ill effects of carbon emission and protect the environment from pollution, which contributes to global warming and climate change…and would also help the poor save on transportation cost.”
The other relevant item is from the office of Sen. Pia Cayetano informing us that the tri-athlete has filed S.B. No. 2936, “Sustainable Transportion Act of 2011,” which seeks “ to promote biking, walking as well as other sustainable and alternative modes of transportation that will not only reduce air pollution and traffic congestion, but will also encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle.” Cayetano further said that “the fuel used to run cars and motor vehicles is costing the Philippines more than P1 billion a day. Our dependency on imported fossil fuels has a multiplier effect on the prices of basic commodities, goods and services…and the heavy reliance on motor vehicles also promotes an unhealthy lifestyle as the public becomes more and more sedentary, refusing to walk or bike even short distances. In practically all of the major cities of the country, this is causing terrible traffic congestion, unnecessary stress, and even countless accidents.”
The most interesting article was that of economist Dr. Cielito Habito, former NEDA director-general (PDI Free Lunch) Writing from Cambridge, Mass., I would like to quote freely from his piece, entitled “People Over Cars,” as it offers insights to why we must no longer remain passive and apathetic to the wellness, health and environmental risks that all of us are confronted with. Dr. Habito shares with us:
“Some 30 years ago, I rode my trusty bicycle to my classes here, and like other bikers, had to do so on the sidewalks as the motor vehicle traffic along the main thoroughfare, Massachusetts Avenue, was too scary to compete with. I am now delighted to see clearly demarcated bicycle lanes right on the street exclusively for cyclists’ use; motorists encroaching on this space are subject to a steep $100 fine. I learned that the city council adopted a Vehicle Trip Reduction Ordinance in the 1990s as part of a policy toward a sustainable future that includes encouraging all reasonable forms of non-automobile travel, including infrastructure modifications that would promote bicycling and walking.
“In our own country, something very similar is brewing, and catching fire. Noted environmental lawyer and Ramon Magsaysay awardee Antonio Oposa Jr…is at it again. His new crusade aims to bring back the primacy of people in our cities which through time have been planned more and more for cars, to the neglect of the 95 percent among us who don’t own one. He cites Executive Order 774 (on the climate change program) declaring that “those who have less in wheels must have more in road.” Oposa has started with Cebu City, whose city council has so far been receptive to his “Road Revolution”…The city council promptly agreed to pilot it in six barangays in its Heritage District, where Cebu City was founded and where its oldest houses that survived the World War II bombing stand. A corresponding city ordinance is now being considered.
“Meanwhile, support for the Road Revolution is snowballing. The City Council of Dumaguete City is reportedly initiating moves to declare portions of certain thoroughfares in the city as vehicle-free promenades, starting with Perdices Street and/or Rizal Boulevard. Similarly, the board of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority has reportedly approved the “pedestrianization” of Dewey Avenue, inspired by the advocacies of the Road Revolution movement.
“I wrote a few years ago in this column of the crusade waged by former Mayor Enrique Peñalosa of Bogota, Colombia, who has become a sort of folk hero among those working to make cities around the world more livable. His credo has been that cities are for people, not for cars. As mayor, he surprised many by declining a $15 billion highway program from donors, deciding instead to restrict car use and create quality public transport, amid strong criticism and even ridicule from detractors. The city decided that funds were better spent building a 35-kilometer “greenway” for cyclists and pedestrians, rather than an eight-lane highway proposed by foreign donors that would have primarily benefited those who own cars.
“Peñalosa’s out-of-the-box reasoning is that transport, unlike most other development concerns, is a problem that gets worse as a society gets richer. He notes that building more road infrastructure in cities worldwide ultimately leads to more traffic jams, for one simple reason: supply creates even more demand. Without restrictions, building more roads leads more people to buy cars. Thus, he argues that expanding highways as a response to traffic jams is like putting out a fire with gasoline.
“He shows dozens of starkly contrasting photographs from cities around the world to prove his point. Against photos of cities with wide sidewalks and bikeways that make walking or biking pleasant for rich and poor alike, he juxtaposes photos of cities where pedestrians are forced onto the roadway, thus endangering their lives, because sidewalks are either taken over by parked vehicles or vendor stalls, are too narrow, or non-existent.
“Indeed, investments in infrastructure can be anti-poor (and anti-children) if government fails to recognize that: (1) cars are owned by a small minority of the population in most places in the world, and (2) the only means of transport accessible to low income citizens in developing country cities (or children in all cities) is the bicycle.
“Peñalosa and the Road Revolution adherents believe that a great city is one that provides much free joy: parks, sidewalks, waterfronts, sports facilities, libraries, quality public education, pedestrian promenades, marvelous waterfronts, and yes, protected bicycle lanes. The last, to Peñalosa, is a fitting symbol of democracy: It shows that a citizen on a $40 bicycle is just as important as one in a $40,000 car.
“If we truly believe that cities are for people, then moves must be made to restrict car use. Cities around the world have already shown how, with congestion charges in London and Singapore, parking restrictions in Tokyo, car-free days, and so on. But more than bicycle lanes, cities must also provide a good mass transport system for all this to work. Clean Air Initiative-Asia, another international advocacy group, also pushes for more walkable cities.
“All this demands that we all be willing to make a dramatic change in our lifestyles as well. At the rate our environmental sins are catching up with us, we really have no choice.”
The latest update on the Perdices Promenade ordinance, according to Councilor Arbon: “We just had a committee meeting about the Pedices Promenade Ordinance…Tony Remollo and I…managed to discuss salient points of the proposed ordinance: how to address traffic flow and how would the business establishment react? The other earlier question was whether Perdices is really a national road. I reasoned that assuming it is, there should be no basis for the City not to regulate local traffic, the way it is currently regulating (i.e. one-way Real street, a national road also. We have resolved to hold a public consultation on Sept 2 at 9am at the session hall…we will be inviting FENOR, the students as well as the business, traffic law enforcers, and pedicab drivers’ association.”
I consider the public consultation as an opportunity for everyone to present their views based on empirical data and not an occasion to dish out mere opinions. I, thus, wrote a letter the members of the City Council, a portion of which I quote: “There is a forthcoming four-day-weekend from Aug. 27 to 30. This period could be utilized to test the feasibility and practicality of the proposed Perdices Promenade ordinance. An appropriate action by the Council, or a directive from the Office of the Mayor, could cause the closing of Perdices street on these days…we could use the period to observe, note down testimonials, monitor carbon emission, document all possible data that could be used to support or oppose the proposed ordinance. This move could provide legitimate arguments during the public hearing and prevent the articulation of unsupported, hearsay, and biased opinions.”
We at FU are preparing for the public consultation. Let’s all join hands in transforming this academic community of ours into a “Promenade City of Gentle People.”
