"The government should also look into more sustainable transportation modes."
"The government should also look into more sustainable transportation modes."
Can we revive the Philippine economy without bringing back all the various modes of public transport that we had before COVID-19?
Economic recovery, after all, will depend on all sectors working at full throttle as before, if not at feverish pace, and you cannot do that if workers in both private and public sectors cannot find the means to go to their jobs.
We therefore fully support the call of the business sector, among them the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), to bring back public transportation, as many workers continue to have little to no means of getting a ride to work in areas under the current general community quarantine or GCQ.
According to the group, the government “should allow the operation of mass public transportation including buses and jeepneys” but with strict adherence to the highest standards in health and safety.
At the same time, it said, the government should look into more sustainable transportation modes and open more and wider pedestrian and bike lanes within the year.
Sen. Ralph Recto thinks along the same line. He wants the immediate return of jeepneys and other public utility vehicles (PUVs) with the required health protocols in place, because the lack of adequate public transportation is detrimental to efforts to reduce joblessness and shore up the economy.
But more than this, the lawmaker suggests that the government subsidize their operations since it now subsidizes the MRT to the tune of P6 billion this year.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is also asking the government to work toward implementing people-centered and sustainable transportation policies, as the country eases itself out of the community quarantine and toward a post-coronavirus world.
“To alleviate the already dire situation of Filipino workers who are struggling to make ends meet, the commission calls on the government to ensure the operation of a sufficient number of public transportation,” the CHR said in a recent statement.
We fully agree with their recommendations.
At the same time, we support the joint initiative of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to put up bike lanes along the whole length of Edsa and other major thoroughfares.
This is actually a long overdue move. A few cities in Metro Manila, such as Marikina, have already put up their own bike lanes. This has enhanced the mobility of their residents, apart from reducing pollution levels.
An earlier proposal was for sidewalks to be expanded and shared by pedestrians and bicycles. But this was turned down as impractical as pedestrians and cyclists simply cannot co-exist; they would encroach on each other's space and jeopardize their safety.
The DOTr and MMDA said they would start construction of the bike lanes last Saturday, June 13 amid the growing number of cyclists as COVID-19 quarantine and health protocols resulted in a shortage of public transportation units and options.
The CHR approves of the bike lanes as well: "As people are already adopting alternative and non-motorized modes of transportation such as biking, the government must provide short and long-term interventions to protect bikers during their commute,” the agency said.
Another thing, urban planner, architect Jun Palafox, has also suggested putting up an overhead covered pedestrian walkway as one other alternative to traffic congestion along Edsa. Makati City has pioneered in the use of these pedestrian walkways in the Central Business District, and has proven its worth in facilitating movement of people within the area. This can be built in phases, perhaps with private sector support, as business establishments can put up advertising materials there.
Community-led public safety system
In the wake of the recent murder of George Floyd by cops in Minneapolis, the City Council has unanimously voted to disband its police force and replace it with a community-led public safety system.
According to the veto-proof resolution, the city council will begin a year-long process of engaging "with every willing community member in Minneapolis" to develop a new public safety model.
"The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, by Minneapolis police officers is a tragedy that shows that no amount of reforms will prevent lethal violence and abuse by some members of the Police Department against members of our community, especially Black people and people of color," five council members wrote in the resolution.
"We acknowledge that the current system is not reformable—that we would like to end the current policing system as we know it," another council member said.
The council declared it would create a "transformative new model" of public safety in the city. The "Future of Community Safety Work Group" will include staff from city departments, including the offices of violence prevention and civil rights.
Although the city mayor said he does not endorse the full abolition of the police, he supported "massive structural reform to revise a structurally racist system."
The concept of community policing is not new as it had been discussed in the Philippine National Police as far back as 2003 during the Arroyo administration. Its main proponent was then Police Deputy Director General Ricardo F. de Leon, now retired and head of the Philippine Public Safety College. He wrote a book, "Community Policing—Pathway to Good Governance" that came out in 2005. It proposed concrete steps to make the PNP truly live up to its mission "to serve and protect" rather than a thorough overhaul of the police force as in the Minneapolis case. But more on this later.
ernhil@yahoo.com
