Former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's eco-friendly election campaign continues to gain believers.
On Monday, March 14, nearly 100 cycling groups participated in simultaneous bike caravans in key cities around the country as a show of support for former House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s senatorial bid in the May 2022 elections.
The activity was dubbed 1-4 Bike Caravan, and was arrived out in 14 cities and provinces. These include the cities of Manila, Marikina in Metro Manila; and in Vigan, Baguio, Urdaneta and Legazpi in other parts of Luzon.
A recurring detail of the event, the number 14 is also Cayetano's ballot number in the upcoming polls.
Cayetano supporters also held bike caravans in the cities of Cebu, Ormoc, and Bacolod in the Visayas, as well as in General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga in Mindanao. Cycling groups also held caravans in the provinces of Camarines Sur and Iloilo.
Many of these areas were beneficiaries of Cayetano’s Sampung Libong Pag-asa and Sari-Saring Pag-asa programs. Thousands of families and small businesses received support from both initiatives at the height of the pandemic.
In fact, sari-sari stores aided by the former Speaker in the past year showed their support along the bike path.
Local leaders across expressed support and congratulated Taguig-Pateros 1st district Rep. Cayetano’s volunteers for the nationwide bike caravan initiative.
According to Albay Board Member and Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) Albay Chapter President Joseph Philip “JP” Lee, both the nationwide bike caravans and Cayetano’s advocacy for eco-friendly campaigning are worthy of support.
"This eco-friendly campaign of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano should serve as an example for all politicians, especially those in the national scene, that we can mount an eco-friendly campaign and help the environment," Lee said in Filipino.
Baguio City lone district Rep. Mark Go expressed his backing for the initiative of his 18th Congress colleague Cayetano's supporters in his city.
“We are here not just to express our trust in him but also our love to the former Speaker as well as our country," Go said to cyclists who joined the Baguio caravan.
The bike caravans were held in response to Cayetano’s call for an eco-friendly campaign for the May 2022 general elections and has indeed gained a lot of attention online. As the first candidate to launch this kind of campaign, the veteran lawmaker said he will not be holding motorcades as these consume a lot of fuel and contribute to pollution.
On February 28, a bike caravan — the first of its kind — was initiated in Pampanga and Laguna by several cycling groups in support of Cayetano.
Cayetano has urged his supporters to plant trees and mangroves, establish urban farms, and use social media as alternatives to traditional campaigning.
The call was praised by various environmental groups, such as the EcoWaste Coalition, which said the move reflects Cayetano’s deep concern for the environment and his important mission to make his campaign cleaner, safer, and better until Election Day.
Cayetano, who is currently leading various senatorial surveys, said he will push for a “faith-based” and “values-oriented” leadership if and when he returns to the Senate.