Group demands environmentally and people-friendly road sharing

More than 25 lawyers representing the “carless people” of the Philippines call on the government to transform its national road and transportation network to a more environmentally and people-friendly system.

The group filed last week a “Notice to sue to implement road sharing” to various government agencies saying that the roads be shared by one-half, lengthwise. One-half of the roads will be for motorized vehicles, the other half for wide and covered sidewalks, all-weather bike lanes and urban edible gardens.

The group cited that while only 2 out of 100 people in the Philippines own cars, they are given almost all of the road space. The remaining 98% of Filipinos who do not own cars are not even given a proper sidewalk, bicycle lanes, or a good public transportation system.

The letter also pointed out that there is already a law existing that directs the concerned government agencies to reform the road system to follow a simple principle: “Those who have less in wheels must have more in roads.”

Signed by some of the top Filipino lawyers from Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the Notice to Sue also stated that the failure of the Government to implement the law, and the resulting damage to the people is tantamount to ‘ecological homicide’.

The basis for this claim is that Filipinos’ right to life and to the life-source of Air is being taken away without due process of law. In addition, the public officials can also be held liable for their manifest partiality toward private motor vehicles in Metro Manila, Cebu, and other urban centers of the Philippines. In these areas, the roads are now choking with cars and air pollution.

“ The unfair grant of so much road and public space to motor vehicle owners excludes 98% of the Filipino people who have no motor vehicles. This is a clear violation of their Constitutional right to equal protection of the Laws,” the letter stated.

Seeking to address this, as early as 2008, no less than the Office of the Philippine President issued directives to transform the road system to favor efficient public transportation and non-motorized transportation such as walking and bicycling [Exec. Order 774, Sec. 9, 2008, and Administrative Order 254, 2009].

The demand letter was addressed to the Secretaries of the Departments of Transportation (DOTC), Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Interior and Local Governments (DILG), and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) headed by the Office of the President.

The Filipino lawyers and their international counterparts demanded the reform of the road system and the division of the roads by half, lengthwise. One-half will be devoted for organized, collective, clean, and affordable transportation system. And the other half will be devoted exclusively for non-motorized options for the people such as wide and all-weather sidewalks, bike lanes, urban edible gardens and public open spaces.

They gave the Philippine Government agencies thirty (30) days to comply with the Law and implement the principle of road sharing. The letter also offered to help the Departments implement road sharing. It was reported that a team of top urban planners have volunteered to assist the legal team implementation of the Road Sharing Principle.

“We all know that the traffic congestion in Metro Manila and in the urban areas of the Philippines has reached crisis proportions. What is the solution to the traffic problem? Do we add more cars? Where will we put them? Do we build more roads? Where will we get the land? And spend so much money to allow only the 2% of our people who have cars to use them? That is grossly unfair,” said the lawyers’ group in a Statement.

According to the statement, they said the government must re-think the transportation model that the country is trying to follow. We cannot follow the wasteful car-based transportation system of Los Angeles (USA).

First, because the Philippines does not have the space for it with our small roads. In fact, even the 8-lane highways of Los Angeles look like slowly moving parking lots.

Second, adding more roads to serve more cars is prohibitively expensive especially for the purchase of road rights-of way and the costs of road construction. It is an unfair allocation of public funds that favor a few (2%) who have cars instead of the many (98%) who do not.

Third, without change in the mindset of transportation, more roads will only result in more cars that will quickly congest the roads. Fourth, more motor vehicles mean more air pollution resulting in damage to the people’s health, especially among the children.

“Instead of the car-based transportation mindset, we should shift to the transportation model to efficient public transportation and non-motorized movement. It is not only clean and easy, it is also cost-free,” said the group of 128 Filipino and 28 International Lawyers. Some of the top-caliber Filipino lawyers who signed the Notice to Sue were noted litigation lawyers Sigfrid Fortun and Rolly Vinluan, Linda and Karen Jimeno of Metro Manila, Shanelle Salinas, Hector Teodosio and Norly Posecion of Iloilo and Gloria Estenzo- Ramos, Genevieve Tabada and Ben Cabrido of Cebu, and Jenny Ramos of Zamboanga.

Durwood Zaelke, renowned environmental lawyer, founder of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and president of the Institute of Governance for Sustainable Development (IGSD), lauded the move of the Filipinos people supported by their lawyers.

“Once again, the Filipino people are leading a peaceful revolution, this time a revolution of the mind. It seeks to turn around the mindset of the transportation system from one that now favors cars and motor vehicles and one that will favor people. After all, roads were meant for people, not for cars.”

“The transportation sector and its upstream industries are a principal source of greenhouse gases, the cause of the rapidly–changing climate. As one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the adverse impacts of climate change, the Filipinos are showing the way to the world on how thiscan be addressed,” Mr. Zaelke added.

Prof. Nick Robinson, famous international environmental law professor and co-founder of the IUCN (International) Academy of Environmental Law said, “Congratulations to the Filipinos, especially to the carless people of the Philippines. This move will be the game-changer in the campaign against air pollution and rapid climate change. Instead of trying to solve the symptoms of the problem, the Filipinos have found a way to turn the basic thinking of transportation upside down and inside out: favor people instead of cars. It will create many ripples around the world.”