Road to freedom

We take  to the streets when everything else fails. That’s how political battles are fought aboveground.

And in Cebu, we take it to Osmeña Boulevard (a.k.a. Jones Boulevard). Manila has the streets of Edsa and Mendiola as the usual venues for dissent.

In Cebu, the traditional battleground is Osmeña Boulevard, which stretches from Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño to the Provincial Capitol, the iconic buildings that symbolize Church and State power, respectively.

As a student activist, I joined various “mass mobilizations” (or mobs, as we called them) along Osmeña Boulevard. My first march-rallies were huge and colorful, with blazing banners of various left-wing groups turning the street into an advancing wave of red and yellow.

Years later, when the leftists started to fight each other, the marching flags in Osmeña Boulevard became fewer and more monochrome (red). What used to be a deluge on the  the street has dissipated into a slow, less-threatening rivulet.

The old guards lament the recent lack of activity in the “parliament of the streets.” Have  people become indifferent or have the issues become so different that the activists failed to notice?

But there’s a political movement in Cebu that not only plans to take matters to the streets— it also seeks to change the very structure of the streets themselves. Called the Road Revolution, the group aims to reclaim the streets as safer and pollution-free passageways for ordinary commuters and pedestrians. In other words, it seeks to lessen the bulk of private cars in  traffic.

Composed by volunteer lawyers, environmentalists, architects, urban planners, bicyclists, runners, street vendors and other concerned sectors, the Road Revolution is soliciting signatures for a petition to legislate wider sidewalks, bike lanes, and even a special lane for a proposed indigenous pedal-powered railcar.

It also calls for the creation of pedestrian streets or roads deliberately closed to car traffic and the rehabilitation of sidewalks to make them safer and more accessible for children, senior citizens and people with disability.

The Road Revolution is therefore about changing habits and attitudes regarding transportation towards healthier, safer, more equitable and environment-friendly options.

To give the public a glimpse of what this alternative system is like, the group is organizing a street festival on June 12, Independence Day, on Osmeña Boulevard. With the support of  City Hall, the street will be closed to motor traffic for at least a day to give way to bicyclists and pedestrians to roam  freely and enjoy street performances and shop at the makeshift “tiangge” (yes, even vendors will have a field day).

Everyone is invited to come and join, but they are asked to leave their cars behind and instead walk, run or pedal their way to Osmeña Boulevard to experience what it is like to have a  pedestrian street.

The group also encourages people to bring potted plants to be used as markers for proposed lanes, such as those for bikes and the specially designed “man-powered train.” Such a train has been tested and used effectively in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.

The group hopes to convince City Hall to install one in Osmeña Boulevard to help ease traffic and pollution. It might sound like a crazy idea, but some  cities in Europe  recently reverted to sleek pedal-powered rickshaws or pedicabs for use in pedestrian zones.

In fact, through people’s initiative and active legislation, more and more cities around the world have declared themselves totally free from cars and fossil fuels. And as the global trend goes slowly but surely, Cebu takes a step forward with one street set to be declared car-efree at least for a day on June 12.

It’s yet another historic event for Osmeña Boulevard and one that will give Independence Day a whole new meaning.