Grace L. Poe
Senator
Republic of the Philippines
Discipline is the most potent weapon. It should be a priority in the minds of commuters, drivers, car owners and those who drive motor vehicles not just on EDSA but elsewhere.
Unfortunately, discipline is something that cannot be legislated but only earnestly encouraged, promoted and displayed.
The following should also be encouraged:
a. Funding mass transit requirements of the country. It means fast-tracking the expansion of MRT and LRT, funding the upgrading of PNR, and the competent maintenance of the transport system.
b. Implementing our existing laws seriously. While it can be considered as declaratory mandates, its honest-to-goodness implementation would mean handling problems like that of EDSA:
• In our Law on Common Carriers, “a common carrier owes its passengers the highest duty of care consistent with the practical operation of its conveyances.”
• Article 1733 of Republic Act No. 386 or the Civil Code of the Philippines states that “Common carriers, from the nature of their business and for reasons of public policy, are bound to observe extraordinary diligence in the vigilance over the goods and for the safety of the passengers transported by them, according to all the circumstances of each case.”
• Article 1755 of the Civil Code also states that “A common carrier is bound to carry the passengers safely as far as human care and foresight can provide, using the utmost diligence of very cautious persons, with due regard for all the circumstances.”
c. Advocating commuters’ safety and protection.
d. Creating an efficient and effective regulatory system that would handle speedy disposition of transport cases and simplifying claim procedure.
e. Reviewing the utilization of the Road Users Tax, also known as the Motor Vehicle Users Charge, as specific purposes for its use are mandated under Republic Act No. 8794 enacted in June 2000. Simply, the fund should be utilized to improve our road system.
Again, there is a need to strengthen our mass transit system and enact a Land Use policy following the rules on zoning including providing ways to improve inter-city and intra-city connections for commuters.
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Sen. Grace Poe took up AB in Development Studies in UP before she transferred to Boston College in Massachusetts where she earned her BA in Political Science. Email her at gracepoe2013@gmail.com.
Nicole Curato, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance
Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis
University of Canberra
EDSA’s problems are reflections of broader social issues. This 23-kilometer stretch showcases the worst of social inequality in Philippine society. It traverses residential enclaves that are home to the Philippines’ richest families and cuts across slum communities that have borne the brunt of demolition, contractualization and massive unemployment. EDSA is witness to the glitziest luxury vehicles as well as the daily struggle of commuters. The billboards along the highway give visibility to the newest products and services—the kind that the Philippines’ daily wage earners cannot afford.
They say EDSA’s traffic is the greatest equalizer. I beg to differ. EDSA is experienced differently depending on one’s status in life.
A sociological perspective cannot simplify EDSA’s problems to issues of traffic congestion and poor urban planning. Instead, a comprehensive cure to the capital’s biggest headache has to be linked to broader patterns of urban exclusion and inequality. Traffic czars can come up with the most sophisticated traffic monitoring system and a comprehensive flood control program but these will not transform the quality of life in the megacity as long as EDSA is built and governed from the perspective of the car-owning elite. As one expert puts it, we have to stop seeing EDSA from behind a windshield. We have to see it from the perspective of the pedestrian.
A reasonable recourse to solving EDSA is to do it the democratic way—through an inclusive process of participatory planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Without this process, EDSA will continue to be a segregated space where cars are king—investments will be poured into the construction of elevated roads where private vehicles can bypass the traffic among public utility vehicles while keeping the uncomfortable sights of urban poverty below and out of sight.
Participatory planning gives the elite and ordinary citizens the opportunity to engage in a collaborative discussion, where each stakeholder can level off and lay claim to their “right to the city.” Numerous places both in the Philippines and overseas have benefited from this approach. By bringing stakeholders from different walks of life together, citizens can engage in a process of co-governance by identifying visions, priorities and development strategies in our shared public space.
A citizen-centric solution to EDSA allows us to transform this space from one that promotes displacement of the poor to one that ensures that the benefits of urban renovation are shared by all. Participatory urban development generates practical knowledge on how people use their cities—from knowing where they live, work and go for leisure—and use such knowledge to make public spaces like roads an empowering space for citizens.
This is not a pipe dream but an existing reality. This is the case in formerly grimy and unsafe cities like Bogota, where universities have taken the lead in building partnerships with property owners, residents and voluntary associations. The result is a city where low-income housing is in central districts (instead of relocating them in far-flung areas), allowing the most vulnerable sectors of society to have access to public services and workplaces. The decision to place affordable housing at the center of Bogota came at the expense of profit-driven residential complexes, but the security of tenure afforded to marginalised sectors allowed them to become dignified, productive members of society and to develop an ethos of stewardship of the city. Moreover, it reduced the segregation or class divide between the north and south of Bogota, as the city has become the space where citizens, regardless of social status, meet and engage.
Like building a nation, EDSA is a collective project. It is a space of frustration but also a space for collective action. We have ousted presidents and restored electoral democracy in this highway. The bigger challenge for us today is to transform this space to uphold urban justice and restore dignity in the city.
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Note: This piece is based on the author’s segment in the documentary produced by 9News entitled EDSA: The Full Story.
Dr. Nicole Curato holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Birmingham. She obtained her BS in Sociology from UP. Email her at Nicole.Curato@canberra.edu.au.