Supporters advocate improved road revolt; opponents say move will hurt drivers

WHAT will it take to repeat a “Road Revolution” and keep vehicles out of Osmeña Boulevard one day each week?

In the center of a bustling street, pro and anti groups discussed the proposal.

Radio station  dySS commentator and Cebu Daily News columnist Lloyd Suarez hosted the discussion in the Fuente Osmeña Circle for the program “Dialogue on the Air.”

“If that will happen, how would the drivers and commuters survive?” said Wenceslao Badayos, chairperson of the Alyansa sa Mamumuo sa Sugbo – Kilusang Mayo Uno.

“The workers had to pay higher fares due to the changing of the jeepney routes,” Badayos said, referring to the June 12 Road Revolution.

He said the transport sector fears that Road Revolution may be part of the  gradual phaseout  of jeepneys and taxis in Cebu City.

But Vince Cinches, country director of 350.org and one of the organizers of the Road Revolution, said “the project… just needs fine tuning with the concerned sectors.”

Lawyer Tara Rama of the Law of Nature Foundation said they proposed  to “give back” the roads to the pedestrians based on the Local Government Code which states that the signatures of only 1,000 registered voters in cities are needed to petition the City Council to pass or amend an ordinance.

The City Council   forwarded the draft ordinance to the committees on laws and ordinances and  on traffic and transportation, said Carlo Dugaduga, City Hall spokesman.

Mayor Michael Rama  wants to  “assess what would be beneficial for the majority of the Cebuanos,” he said.

Jeepney driver Eduardo Geolin of the Nagkahiusang Drayber sa Sugbu- Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide said  they will support the project as long as it would not compromise their livelihood.

If a train powered by renewable energy would become the primary means of transport within the city, it would cause a big blow on their livelihood, he said.

Many jeepney drivers were unable to pay their daily rental on June 12 because of the lack of passengers.

“Some drivers are still paying until now,” Geolin said, adding that the rent for each  jeepney unit ranges from P300 to P800.

Badayos pointed out that air pollution in Metro Cebu is largely caused by the private vehicles.

He  suggested that a color coding  scheme for using  public roads should be implemented for  private vehicles.

An estimated  60 percent of vehicles in Metro Cebu are private cars, said  Eddie Llamedo, spokesman of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7).

Air quality in Metro Cebu is “tolerable,” but the public shouldn’t wait for it to worsen, he said.

DENR-7 has air quality monitoring stations in  Mabolo police precinct,  University of San Carlos in Talamban, Cebu Business Park, DENR-7 compound,  barangay Tinaan, Naga City and near the Land Transportation Office in Cebu City.

The Environmental Management Bureau conducted air sampling on June 11 and June 12 to compare the amount of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) in the atmosphere in the boulevard before and during the road revolution, Llamedo said.

They will  release the results of the air sampling next week. /Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya