Manifestation of Senator Pia S. Cayetano at the Senate inquiry on the viral road rage case in Quezon City
Good afternoon, everyone. Apologies, Mr. Chairman, for being late. But we had a Senate Electoral Tribunal meeting at the same time, as you know.
For this hearing, the Senate President and I filed a resolution, which is also covered by this hearing. I know it covers a lot of ground, including the carrying of a gun, the use of a gun outside of whatever legal reasons there are to carry a gun. I won’t go into that, Mr Chairman, I’ll leave that up to you.
But I do know on the right side, I am not sure if on the left, I can’t see the small prints, if there are cycling and other non-motorized groups here…alam ko nga dito sa right side, kasi nababasa ko pa. Yung doon hindi ko na mabasa.
But that’s what I’d like to address because I am the principal sponsor of what was formerly known as the Safe Pathways Act, which is now, we renamed it to Walkable and Bikeable Cities Act. But with this incident, I am now rethinking baka it should really be Safe Pathways because this now really defines what we had in mind, na maging ligtas sa pahamak ang gumagamit ng mga daan na yun na dinefine natin as Safe Pathways.
Now, I’d like this hearing to also cover non-cyclists, because maraming hindi nakasakay sa dalawang gulong o apat na gulong na, who are in dire need of safety when they are on the road. Yung pedestrian, yung tumatawid lang ng kalye, yung doon sa bill natin… by the way, my two colleagues here are co-sponsors as well. So atin lahat ito. I’ll acknowledge for you the presence of Sen. Padilla, Mr Chairman.
So in that bill, it even defines, and I am sure many of you [know], sa mga barangay, mga eskinita, di ba kapag may namatay, sinasara yung kalyeng yun o kung may fiesta sinasara? So that’s what we call ‘slow streets.’ And ang definition natin ng slow streets, slow nga. Walang mabilis doon, walang paspasan na motor, wala ring sasakyan. Syempre yung nakatira doon, pwede mo naman ilabas ang sasakyan mo. Pero yung purpose nun, yung mga lola, mga lolo, mga bata, pwedeng tumakbo. And that’s what we want for our children, a safe place to… Hindi yung, ‘anak, huwag kang lumabas ng bahay.’ Ang hirap naman ng buhay na ganun, yung huwag kang lumabas ng bahay. And pati matanda, pati ako baka sabihan ako ng mga anak ko, ‘huwag ka na magbisikleta dahil baka may mangyari.’
So, on that note, I also wanted to share my personal experiences. Ako naman, as a cyclist, and I’ve cycled all over the country, talagang we put ourselves at risk when we do that kasi the fact na dalawa lang ang gulong mo, talo ka na kaagad. Kahit sa tricycle talo ka, lalo na sa truck, lalo na sa van, sa jeep, talo ka na. Pickup, lahat. Talo. Talo. Talo. Kasi naka-two wheels… napakanipis pa ng gulong, hindi mountain bike ang dala ko kung nasa labas ako. Kapag nasa bundok ako, mountain bike, pero kapag nasa kalye, road bike…
When I started biking just before I became a senator, so mga 2003 ata ako nag-umpisa mag-bike talaga tapos 2004 ako naging senator. Mas, ang nandoon lang siguro talaga sa mga kalye ang masasabi kong talagang mga siklista. Sila lang talaga or yung ibang mountain bikers na papunta sila sa bundok, pero syempre dadaan yan sa kalye… I would like to think, but I do not have the data, mas maraming aksidente doon kasi yung pananaw ng mga driver, sila ang may-ari ng kalye. Yun talaga, I feel it, and I hear it. Like, ‘o, alis kayo dyan sa kalye!’ Hindi talaga. Parang wala talaga kaming karapatan sa kalye, okay? But times have changed, I hope, over the last…10 years, 15 years, mas marami nang cyclists, and then yun nga yung push, marami na ring communities na nag a-acknowledge, nagkaroon na rin tayo ng bike lanes, right? So unti-unting naiintindihan na rin ng mga driver na, ‘ah hindi pala ako may-ari ng kalye.’ But it requires a change of perspective na ma-realize nilang, I have to share the road. Maraming hindi naniniwala doon.
So yung sa experience ko, marami na akong hindi ko masabing nahampas ko, pero siguro nahampas ko rin [ang sasakyan], kung na-cut ako, makakahampas ka talaga eh kasi feeling mo, buhay mo yung nakataya eh. It’s a natural reaction na makahampas ka. And if makahampas man ako on the spot, yung nadaanan ako or after, syempre hahabulin ko yun tapos hahampasin ko ng ganun yun. ‘Hoy! Bakit mo ako ginitgit?’ Ginagawa ko yun para ma-catch ko ang attention niya. Hindi naman para maka-dent ng [sasakyan], hindi ko naman kaya maka-dent ng kotse kapag inano ko. And then I confront the drivers, and I tell them, at that time kasi, 2004-2005, my daughters were 5 and 8 years old. So, sinasabi ko, ‘kapag namatay ako, walang bubuhay sa anak ko dahil single mother ako. Kaya mong buhayin ang mga anak ko? Kaya mong buhayin? Papakainin mo? Papag-aralin mo ang mga anak ko?’ Yun ang sinasabi ko talaga…because I want them to think, what will happen if mamatay ako as a cyclist, di ba? Ang mangyayari is, mawawalan ng magulang yung anak ko. So pinapaalam ko sa kanila yun, tapos ang sagot, ‘sorry po nagmamadali lang.’ Eh kahit na, kung makapatay ka ng tao, eh di makukulong ka, wala rin magpapakain sa mga anak mo. so ganun ho yung mga sermon ko sa mga kahit sino. Tapos ninenerbiyos po yung driver ko, yung security ko, kasi nandoon ako nagsesermon sa ano. But so far, as far as I know, it ended well. I think, at least for me. It ended well kasi I’d like to think na yung sermon ko na talagang pinersonalize ko, sana mag-iingat na sila the next time na nagmamadali sila.
So I share that story because yan din ang inspiration ko nung we drafted that bill. And parang wala ho yata dito Mr Chairman ang MMDA, ano? Pero wala naman problema yun, Mr Chairman. Kasi ako na ito, I commit to call the Chairman, si Atty. Don Artes, to explain, kasi my concern goes beyond this hearing. Merong mga moves to reduce the use of the biking paths, not just for bikers but for motorists. And that is the exact opposite of what the purpose of a safe pathway law is about. If it’s a bike lane, it’s a bike lane. Doon po sa Taguig, kung hindi pa po kayo nakapunta, I invite all of you, doon po sa may C6, sa may Lakeshore, we have a pedestrian and walkable lane, we have a bike lane, and we have a car lane. And we recognize, hindi madaling gawin yun sa mga cities na matagal nang nagawa, dahil mag-uungkat ka, mag-expropriate ka pa ng property, hindi naman basta-basta magagawa. But you have a chance to do it in new developments and we did it in Taguig City doon sa, right now, I don’t know if it’s 10-15 kms, so for cycling enthusiasts, please feel free to go there.
It’s meant to be shared, and the bill explains it… And I was talking to Justice Marvic Leonen, kasi siya po ay isang cyclist din, tinanong niya sa akin kanina, Chairman and JV, and of course Sen. Robin was there, tinatanong niya sa akin kung ano yung speed na allowed, kung allowed, and if so, ano yung speed na allowed nung electric bikes? And matagal nang debate yun. For those of you in the cycling community who joined our hearings, we really discussed that. Ang objective lang naman natin is malaman what will work for all, di ba? And we followed an international standard na pwede ang electric bikes kapag ito ay mag-follow ng minimum speed. Kasi nga, kung pabayaan mo si electric bike mag-50 kph, tapos yung mga bikers, 20 kph, eh di ganun din, di ba?
And then I noticed there is a scooter… Mr Tim Vargas, maybe at the proper time, I don’t know kung sakop pa ito ni Mr Chairman, but public order, sakop pa rin, Kasi in other parts of the world, may mga moves din to disallow the use of scooters, ano? But these are things that we should be mature enough to discuss without emotions. Ano yung makakabuti sa tao. Paano yan i-ensure ang safety ng mga tao, and at the same time, move towards a sustainable society, sustainable cities. Ang sustainable cities po natin is really more walking, less motorized vehicles.
So that’s my little long spiel on the long-term effect of this hearing, Mr Chairman. Because we need to have a happy coexistence among all of us, and of course, safety also includes na when somebody like me, a woman, a female or somebody like Mr Bandiola, a young man, and what if kasalanan ko? Because the truth is, I have also almost been in serious accidents because of cyclists also. So, let’s not pretend na lahat ng cyclists, pedestrians, sumusunod din. Hindi rin. Andaming pasaway. Sinabi nang huwag mag-zigzag, nag-zizigzag sa harap niyo. Eh di lahat kayo, patong-patong kayo. So I always, with all the sectors I’ve dealt with, health sector, education sector…sabi ko, we also have to be responsible and police ourselves.
So I leave it at that, I leave it to you, Mr Chairman, to go into all the details. But I thank you for calling this hearing and giving me time to just express my views on this. And I do believe that we can come up with a good solution if we all try to work together.
One last point, barriers. Minsan ang laging naki-critique is kasi walang barriers. But the truth is, and even in Taguig City, which I am very proud about..if you talk about BGC, may developers po dyan, mga private entities, ano lang yun, parang two lanes lang yun, one way going, one way the other way. Tapos we insisted na lagyan ng bike lane, pero how much can you take? Eh may bus pang dadaan. We are limited by realities. Lagyan mo pa ng barrier yun, babawasan mo din ang space ng ano. So you know what I mean? There’s no perfect. There’s no perfect. We live with what we have. And when our father was undergoing treatment in the US, nagba-bike kami papunta sa area namin, yun yung exercise namin, meron talagang common-use spaces. So kung magagalit kayo sa LGU niyo, eh bakit yan dinadaanan ng sasakyan? Eh kasi meron talagang daan na hindi naman kayang i-exclusive for bikers, kahit gustuhin, diba? Magshe-share talaga tayo ng road. So that’s it. Sharing is caring. I end with that, Mr Chairman. #
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