The enactment of the Magna Carta for Commuters will ensure the rights of the public, especially pedestrians, cyclists, and persons with disabilities, to safe, convenient, and affordable transport services and infrastructure, advocates said during the #FreeToMove: Advocacy and Movement Building Workshop on Sustainable Urban Mobility held in Baguio City on Sept. 9-10, 2022.

The event, which was organized by The Climate Reality Project Philippines and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) Philippines, equipped more than 45 climate and active mobility advocates with the knowledge and skills to push for and develop policies, programs, initiatives that will create an enabling environment for active transport and inclusive urban mobility across the country.

The workshop marked the second in-person session of The Climate Reality Project Philippines’ Klima Pandayan workshop series, an initiative we’ve launched amid the pandemic to equip our community of leaders with the skills, approaches, and tools to become more effective climate advocates.

“Safe mobility is a basic human right that unfortunately a lot of people do not experience. To exercise that right, kailangan natin ng batas na magre-require na magkaroon ng quality pedestrian and bicycle infrastructures sa lahat ng daan (we need a law that would require quality pedestrian and bicycle infrastructures in all our roads),” Jaramia Amarnani, co-founder of Pinay Bike Commuter Community and Mobility Awards convenor, said during the workshop.

Addressing the gaps in the transportation sector

Ira Angelo Cruz, director of AltMobility PH, highlighted that only 12 percent of Filipino households own private vehicles yet 80 percent of the roads in the country are allocated and designed for them. He added that the current public transportation system is difficult, unreliable, and expensive.

“ could not even predict the schedule . It’s so difficult, it’s so unreliable. It’s so expensive kasi ilang beses ka lumilipat (since you transfer multiple times). Anything more than two transportation is already expensive. Yung ganun ka karaming beses lumipat (When you transfer so many times), it’s so unsafe, it’s so polluted,” he said.

Citing the threats posed by the proposed Pasig River Expressway (PaREx) to the river ecosystem in the area and the inability of the expressway to holistically solve Metro Manila’s traffic problem because it will only cater to needs of the privileged while neglecting the 88 percent who do not even own private motorized vehicles, Cruz highlighted the need to make the country’s transportation and mobility systems more people-centered.

Amarnani agreed with Cruz, “Dito nakasentro yung efforts natin para ma-promote ang (Here lies the center of our efforts to promote) active mobility. It does not only lessen emissions and tap into the concerns of sustainability, but it also considers issues of equity and accessibility. Marami pa rin ang walang sasakyan (There are a lot who don't own a vehicle) and yet our infrastructures, especially the road system, are designed to cater to the needs of cars.”

Five national surveys conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) from May 2020 to May 2021 found that 20 percent of Filipino households surveyed own bicycles while only five percent own motorized vehicles. This affirmed that cycling is a mainstream mode of transportation for Filipinos and that there is a need to integrate bicycle infrastructure into national and local transport plans.

“The pandemic and the climate crisis demand that we liberate commuters, cyclists, and pedestrians from the day-to-day pains of dealing with poor quality and integration of our road and transport networks and car-centric approach to urban mobility,” Nazrin Castro, manager of Climate Reality in the Philippines, said during the workshop.

Active mobility for clean air and public health

Atty. Glynda Bathan-Baterina, deputy executive director of Clean Air Asia, delved into the linkages between air pollution, public health, and the current state of mobility systems in the country.

Bathan-Baterina noted a high number of deaths (ranging from 40,901 to 74,800) caused by air pollution found in Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, in 2019. She also warned that a child exposed to unsafe levels of pollution can face lifetime health impacts such as stunted lung growth, impaired mental and motor development, low birth weight, childhood cancers, and increase risk of heart diseases.

With 73.69 percent of air pollution coming from motor vehicles or mobile sources, Bathan-Baterina said that zero-emitting active transportation should be prioritized over polluting and fossil-fuel-based vehicles.

“Active transportation helps us achieve our national ambient air quality standards so we should really promote them,” she said.

Movement building for climate action, clean air, and active mobility

The workshop also highlighted the crucial role of campaigning and the arts in amplifying the linkages between inadequate mobility systems, air pollution, unreliable energy, and climate change and the need to address them simultaneously.

“As we advocate for smart mobility and sustainable urban mobility, let us bring people along. The beneficiary that we are targeting to help, let us include them in the conversations because they can really provide a lot of insights into the solution that we will work on in their communities. Let us not leave them behind,” Bathan-Baterina reminded advocates in attendance.