Eco lawyer leads call for Cebu road sharing

CEBU, Philippines -  A spontaneous petition calling for road sharing in Cebu City was signed yesterday in a forum on disaster resilience amid climate change at the University of the Philippines Cebu.

The open letter, handwritten by environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa Jr. and addressed to Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, was signed by at least 59 students and teachers at the end of the forum.

“Mayor Mike Rama, palihog mag-angay ta sa karsada sugod karong March 30 sa Barangay Lahug and every Sunday up to 6 months. Unya among i-evaluate kung giunsa nimo pag-implement. Daghang salamat,” read the petition.

Mar. 30 has been declared National Road Sharing Day with the Department of Public Works and Highways favoring the request of the environmentalists.

Oposa yesterday said the group intends to occupy portion of Salinas Drive from Waterfront Hotel all the way to portion of Gorordo Avenue up to UP Cebu.

 He then shared pointers towards achieving climate change resilient society, namely foresight through scientific study that helps identify weather and climatological patterns, cooperation among stakeholders, and resilience.

 Oposa identified four cities in the country that actively back road sharing advocacy with Marikina leading, followed by San Juan, Iloilo and Cebu.

 â€œMarikina has 70-kilometer bike lane. San Juan will declare their most traffic-prone road as carless for one day. Iloilo is a model with their mayor very supportive to the cause. In fact, he has called bikers to join their huge activity this Mar. 30. Mas daghan pa ang Iloilo og bike and pedestrian lanes than for motor vehicles. Cebu City has a proposed bike lane ordinance with a supportive city government officials, as well,” Oposa pointed out.

 He then posed the challenge to the students and teachers who attended the “Climate Change Resilience: How Prepared is Cebu” forum which also featured speakers like eco lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, UP professors Joyce Flores and Rhodora Bucoy, Cebu City Councilor and eco warrior Nestor Archival and San Francisco Camotes former mayor Alfredo Arquillano Jr.

 â€œLet this challenge Cebu to become model not just for the Philippines but the entire world,” Oposa addressed the forum participants.

 The forum was organized by Social Institutions and the Environment class handled by professor Zenaida Ligan under the Master of Science in Environmental Studies program of UP Cebu.  (FREEMAN)