noel alanguilan

the cyclist is actually wearing a face mask / air filter

administrative order no. 254: mandating the department of transportation and communications to lead in formulating a national environmentally sustainable transport (est) for the philippines.

i came across this tidbit from the blog of the tour of the fireflies organizers.

first, let’s get familiar with the acronyms:

tgff — task group on fossil fuels
est — environmentally sustainable transport
pacc — presidential adviser on climate change

the gist of the administrative order along with my comments below the items i find interesting:

a) Reform the transport sector to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. The new paradigm in the movement of men and things must follow a simple principle: “Those who have less in wheels must have more in road.” For this purpose, the system shall favor non-motorized locomotion and collective transportation system (walking, bicycling, and the man-powered mini-train).

walking would actually be a fantastic option if the powers that be could maintain clean and proper sidewalks free of parked trucks and cars, tricycles, motorcycles, pedicabs, vendors, guard houses, utility posts and garbage as they are suppose to. in other words, make the sidewalks walkable as they should be. this applies not only to the major roads but for the minor ones and the side streets as well. people will walk as long as the places they can walk on is clean and safe.

now, using bicycles as an alternative form of transport in the metro is a bit more complicated. consider the jeepneys, taxis, passenger buses, tricycles, pedicabs that endlessly weave in heavy syrupy traffic for no apparent or logical reason and compete for that 1-meter space near the street corner just to get a single passenger. where would one place the bike lane? would these drivers even respect the bike lane when half of them do not give a hoot about the pedestrian lane? i am aware that people have been commuting to work by bicycle under these circumstances but the idea here is to get more people into it. how to accomplish this feat is going to take a lot. i’ll leave that for another post.

bicycling i get, but what exactly is a human-powered mini-train? the engineer in me is absolutely curious.

b) Through the DOTC and the DPWH, immediately transform roads using the aforesaid principle.

if this is what i think it is then i am so looking forward to even, well maintained sidewalks and bicycle lanes. i am just curious as to how the lanes can be managed and respected considering metro manila’s convoluted vehicular and human traffic.

c) Through Malacañan Palace and all Cabinet offices, bring down by fifty percent (5O%) the consumption of fossil fuels within two (2) years from the issuance of EO 774.

50% is an admirable target but is it realistic? i know the principle of leading by example is a good one but i think 20 – 25% would be a more practical target, wouldn’t it? and what with the two-year target? is this administrative order co-terminus with the current presidency?

these are the points i am mostly interested in. if you want the full text of administrative order you can download the pdf file from the website of the office of the president.

despite some of my comments being somewhat tainted by sarcasm, i am hopeful that manila can become cleaner. i have always found that there are always some difficulty in implementing laws especially new ones but i will try to be optimistic on this one.

i just got a heads up from the firefly brigade — this year’s tour of the fireflies will be on the 19th of april. the start and end will be at tiendesitas and “we’re doing edsa this year“.   it sounds crazy but fun! edsa. wow.

to anyone not familiar with the metro manila area, edsa is an acronym for epifanio delos santos avenue. it is the main highway of metro manila. it is mostly 10 lanes passing through five cities so its a pretty big roadway used by 225,000 vehicles on average per section per day.

you can watch for updates at the brigade’s multiply site.

i am not sure if i can tackle the stop and go nature of this ride (it might not be the case because its going to be edsa this year) but i had fun the last time i joined. i’ll post news as i get them.

for reasons that are almost entirely my fault, i could not join the 10th tour of fireflies. i was under the weather — of sorts. fortunately, other pinoy roadies were there and they took a handful of pictures!

i wish i could’ve attended the event but maybe next year. i even went to san pablo the week before that event to fetch my bike.

ah well, c’est la vie.

from the pinoy roadies forum:

the Tour of the Fireflies (ToF) is an annual 50-km bicycle ride through seven cities to promote the use of the bicycle as an alternative means of transportation that is cheap, efficient, environmentally sensible and good for one’s health.

This year, synchronized bicycle rides in Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Baguio, and Tarlac are being organized by supporters to drum up more support for sustainable transportation and livable communities.

When: April 20, 2008, SUNDAY; Early registration starts at 5.30 am

Start: 7.00 am
End: 12.00 nn – Short awarding ceremonies follow

Where: in manila, the tour Starts and end at Tiendesitas, Pasig
The colorful mardi gras on wheels for clean air will go through through the cities of: Pasig, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasay, Manila, Quezon City, Marikina.

Registration:
php 50 peso donation serves as registration fee
php 200 reg fee w/ Tour Shirt
php 350 reg fee w/ Jersey
php 500 reg fee w/ Tour Shirt & Jersey

Kindly bring your registration stub on April 20 to make you eligible for Tour Day Fun Raffle and Surprises!

PRE-Registration: April 1-12, Saturday, 5 pm (Pre-registration in Bike Shops listed below)
On-site PRE-Registration: April 19, Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm at TIENDESITAS
On-site Registration: April 20, Saturday, 5:30 am – 7 am at TIENDESITAS

Note: Children below 13 should be accompanied by an adult.

10th Tour of the Fireflies Registration Form is available online at the firefly brigade site.

Pre-registration Centers:

1. All Terra – Club 650, E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue, Libis, QC – Tel. 638-2075
2. Bike Town Cyclery – 2240 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati – Tel. 387-2173
3. Bombproof Gear – 3rd Level, West Lane, Robinson’s Galleria, Pasig – Tel. 634-1760
4. Cycle Shack – SM Megamall, Lower Ground Floor, Mandaluyong – Tel. 687-4504
5. Cycle Shack – SM SouthMall, Lower Ground Floor, Las Piñas – Tel. 802-1769
6. Dirt Dawg Bike Shop – 13 Visayas Avenue, VASRA, QC – Tel. 928-0962
7. Extreme Bike Shop – 88 Panay Avenue, South Triangle, QC – Tel. 373-7100
8. Gran Trails – 401-B West Gate, Filinvest, Alabang, Muntinlupa – Tel. 772-1225
9. Joven – Amang Rodriguez Avenue, Santolan, Pasig – Tel. 645-6029
10. King’s Bike Shop – 622 Quezon Boulevard, Quiapo, Manila – Tel. 734-0052/734-0069
11. Newton Multi-Sales – 689 Del Monte Avenue, QC – Tel.731-4495
12. Power Bikes – 38 Rockwell Drive, Makati City – Tel. 898-0377/898-1536
13. Ross Cycle Center – 2195 Leveriza Street, Cartimar, Pasay – Tel. 832-7478
14. Speedy Bagal Bikes – 21 Kamias Road, QC – Tel. 0920-9115872
15. BrightMinds Tutorial Center – 169 Kamias Road, QC – Tel.922-5616

Organizers: Firefly Brigade and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in cooperation with Tiendesitas, MMDA, Philippine National Police and the Local Government Units of participating cities

Co-presented by: Firefly Lighting

Major Sponsor: Spyder Optics

Media Partners: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Men’s Health Magazine, THE RADIO PARTNERS, Ad Farm Audio Productions, Campaigns Social Response, 99.5 HIT FM, MAXFM 103.5, WAVE 89.1, JAM 88.3,
MAGIC 89.9

Also supported by: 7-eleven, Ericsson, Deuter, Aktivade, Julie’s Bakeshop Nueve de Pebrero, Unilever, Targa Communications and Aeromed

the 10th tour of fireflies will be on 20 april 2008, sunday. the organizers have not announced route yet but i suspect i would be 40 to 50km winding around metro manila.

last year we held up traffic like crazy and it took us half the day. but it was super fun. i met bimbo and i bumped into felix also.

this year, there is a suggestion that pinoy roadies meet up in front of hypermart.

game!