Robredo eyes P14 billion for bike lane expansion; boosting outdoor economic activity

FILE PHOTO: Bike lane. INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo is planning to ramp up the budget for the establishment of bike lanes across the country from the current P1.6 billion to around P14 billion if she wins the presidency in the upcoming May 2022 elections.

The presidential aspirant emphasized in her keynote at the Philippine Business Conference and Exposition on Wednesday that health should be the “front-end domino” in this time of a pandemic.

She said that addressing health issues would make the challenges ahead less daunting.

Part of her undertaking if she becomes president would be to “encourage outdoor economic activity to reduce the risk of infection in closed and crowded areas” and a review of existing bike lanes and increasing the budget to install more of them nationwide would be part of that plan.

“We will leverage what is already there—like outdoor parks, which we can use as markets. We will review current bike lanes, and we will build more around the country. We will raise the budget for this from P1.6 billion to around P14 billion,” Robredo told participants at the business summit.

Last year, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) was able to secure P1.3 billion funding to install a bike lane network in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao. The allocation is part of the P9.5 billion earmarked by Congress to the DOTr under the Bayanihan to Recover as One-Act.

In October, the DOTr asked the Senate to approve its proposed P19.8-billion budget for 2022 to finance various transport sector projects such as the installation of more bike lanes and libreng sakay (free rides).

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KGA