THE fast and the furious ― that about sums up the participants of the 4th Leg of the 2022 Pedal for People and Planet (PPP) yesterday. They were fast in heeding the summon for them to join, and they pedaled furiously to send the message across: the time has come for serious action on climate change and for a fossil fuel-free future.
Combined 400-plus bikers from both cities of Cagayan de Oro and Butuan participated in 49 coordinated biking events from across Asia in the call for reparations for climate debt, by the Asian Peoples’ Movement for Debt and Development. This coincides with the opening of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27.
“The Pedal for People and Planet event which calls for climate justice has moved the Butuanon’s particularly the young generation, that our environment needs to be taken care of,” said Michael Galocgoc, of Butuan Cardio Cycling. “With my passion for cycling I have shared my thoughts that one can simply go to different places without using gas-fueled vehicles, cycling gives a lot of benefits to one’s health and ease congestion to city traffic as well as lessen carbon dioxide pollution,” he added.
“Indeed, the Pedal for People and Planet event participated by most Butuan cyclists boosts awareness to the city of Butuan where the nearby places are now under mining quarry activities.”
Butuan City bikers have only just joined the last leg of the 2022 PPP activity, and the 30-km route around the city presently has the biggest draw compared to other bike activities previously conducted in the city.
Here in Cagayan de Oro City, local bike groups and cycling individuals once again heeded the call to action. The majority of the participants have joined in the three previous legs, starting with the Earth Day ride on April 24.
“We are still here, and we want action now. We demand that the Philippine government be serious in its supposed commitment to shift to clean and renewable energy, and the reduction of the dependence on fossil fuels,” declared Lenin Amidala Corrales of the Youth for Climate Justice-CdeO.
“Of course, we the youth are worried about the future, and we don’t want to be the ones to suffer from the effects of present-day negligence of our planet’s health,” she added.
The Cagayan de Oro route took the participants up the hills of Camarahan and Pahiron to showcase the exhilarating panorama that makes it a draw for cyclists, and down to the Iponan River in San Simon in a bid to draw attention to the massive quarrying activities in the aforementioned barangay.
