I’m not sure if my one and only senatorial candidate, Teddy Casiño, has a bike or if he even knows how to ride one. I don’t know if his campaign machinery has any biking event listed. But, whatever the case, it’s a nice idea for bikers who support Teddy’s bid for the Senate to organize a mass bike ride on or around Earth Day or any other memorable date before the May 13 elections.
The idea actually came from my ex-girlfriend, who is immensely busy these days with her own hectic race to complete her university studies and get the degree she’d been aiming for since time immemorial. So she asked me to put her suggestion into blog form.
Like me, Ex-GF was at first doubtful of Teddy’s chances at winning a Senate seat although we had been supportive of his party-list’s program from Day 1. Truth to tell, we cringed at his first tentative steps to craft his messages for a wider audience, such as his rather tacky “Don’t touch my talong” slogan against GMOs.
But as he plodded along, or rather jogged and chatted and expounded his way into public consciousness, slowly gathering momentum, he started to shine, and XGF’s mental light bulbs started to emit brilliant flashes.
“Jogging is ok, but too slow if he wants to cover more ground,” she noted. “He should bike all around the city, and call on all bikers—including you,” emphatically pointing a finger at me, “to join him and help distribute his leaflets.”
“Hmm,” I said, contemplating her finger. “There’s an Earth Day bike ride on April 21,” I noted, checking a website calendar for the Firefly Brigade’s “critical mass rides” for this year. On the other hand—I corrected myself—it would probably be a bad idea to politicize an event that has already established itself as non-political.
So taking off from XGF’s idea, the next best thing is maybe for Teddy’s bikers to organize their own mass rides to raise environmental issues, bring their ecological philosophy and program to the masses in a creative way, and involve a wide range of activist and advocate groups—even plain biking enthusiasts and pedicab drivers. They can trace a well-chosen route that’s long enough to cover much ground, but not too long as to be exhausting and self-limiting in terms of participants.
Consider these possible dates:
- March 20, to coincide with the call for a nationwide protest against high prices and the economic crisis.
- April 14 or 20, as a pre-Earth Day event calling for environmental justice.
- May 5, as part of the final push to bring Teddy to the Magic 12 before the campaign period ends.
As for the route, it will depend on what groups and how many want to join, and on which date. I’m particularly hopeful that such a mass ride could wind its way around Metropolitan Manila for a whole day, and end with a short rally at some seaside spot, where the tired bikers can rest their feet and enjoy the cool sea breeze while partaking of nilagang saba and samalamig.
A handful of my friends and I can join that kind of mass bike ride, while my ex-GF and her hundreds of barkadas can supply the refreshments.
Now isn’t that a nice, fun and non-confrontational pre-election event to look forward to? # Follow @junverzola