Revolution as picnic

Whoever said a revolution is not a picnic should bike or walk to Osmeña Boulevard today to see the Road Revolution, the movement that seeks to reduce pollution and traffic jams by making the streets safer and friendlier for pedestrians, runners and cyclists.

And as if to declare freedom from toxicity in the city,  Road Rev advocates have successfully asked authorities to close the Osmeña Boulevard to car traffic, at least for a day—on Independence Day.

And so everyone, including sloths and cynics, may check out the street party being organized by volunteers there today. But they have to leave their cars at home or somewhere  else and instead try to walk, bike, skate or parkour (why not?) their way to the daylong demonstration of what it’s like to have a pedestrian street in Cebu.

The main goal is to get as many people to sign a petition calling for safer sidewalks and special lanes for bikes and a “man-powered” railcar in certain streets in the city. It also calls for pedestrianization as part of urban design and a policy for reduction of car use and dependency on fossil fuels.

But it’s not going to be the usual street protest with placards and slogans. The organizers, who are composed mostly of young volunteers, want to involve groups and sectors not usually seen in rallies.

They want to make it fun for the public, starting the events early in the morning with a freedom walk/ bike from the Capitol and aerobics at the Fuente Circle. Various bike groups are expected to show up. These include owners of folding bikes and vintage bicycles.

There will also be demonstrations by martial artists and fire dancers. Bikers, skaters and parkour enthusiasts will also have a showdown of stunts.

To the clueless (whose age we seem to have a clue), parkour is an extreme sport in which a practitioner is able to run, climb, or jump over obstacles with  ninja-like speed and agility. As such, it seeks to redeem in this age of online gaming our primitive nimbleness in today’s urban jungle. Naturally, as a kind of extreme sport like skating, it is frowned upon by authorities.

But today, as active participants in the Road Revolution, they are going to have a field day on the boulevard.  The street, after all, has been the traditional venue of public dissent, so it is just a symbolic gesture that on Independence Day even skater punks and parkour buffs benefit from maximum tolerance.

This is not to say that running through walls or jumping over staircases on your way to the office is the solution to traffic congestion. But even these adrenaline rush junkies will benefit from the revitalization of street culture brought about by pedestrianization.

No longer will they have to compete dangerously with speeding cars and other motor vehicles. In fact, this absence of danger in the streets may soon make them irrelevant.

Even street hawkers and organic farmers  will have a field day as an open market will be held elsewhere in the street. They will have a chance to sell their wares without fear of demolition.

Booths offering free massage or blood pressure and sugar checkups are also expected to entice joggers and health watchers at the Fuente Circle. Anti-smoking campaigners will be there too to scare the public with  the dangers of the cigarette on behalf of the surgeon general.

Already, a lawyer friend invited us to join her family  in  the demonstration and picnic at Fuente today. A few years ago, while being part of a different movement, we talked about why a revolution cannot be a picnic.

Well, times have changed and there is certainly no need to take up arms or bolos to beat climate change. And unlike Bonifacio and Rizal, today’s generation of revolutionaries know how to fight the fun way.

So, yes, the revolution is not a picnic or walk in the park. It’s such a huge street party.