A senator, working with a transport advocacy group, filed a bill called the Magna Carta of Dignified Commuting last month. What the bill fundamentally says is that mobility with dignity is basic human right.
A commuter is one who travels from one point to another using a combination of transport modes other than private vehicles.
The bill identifies the basic rights of commuters:
• The right to adequate transportation services means that waiting time at bus stops should be limited to 10 minutes and that transport stops should be within 300 meters from each other.
• The right to road safety means the state shall promote safe driving behavior of public transport drivers.
• The right to mobility infrastructure says there must be walking and biking paths.
• The right to clean air is self-explanatory, as is the right to participation in the decision-making process for transport and mobility issues.
Mobility experts Zaxx Abraham and Mirick Paala, writing for CNN Philippines, say that today, "clearly, the priority is moving private vehicles."
Abraham and Paala, founding members of AltMobility PH, the advocacy group that worked with Senator Francis Pangilinan, said: “To be clear: The Magna Carta for Dignified Commuting' is not saying that cars are the enemy. What we are pushing for is the idea of Philippine cities that have the options for its people to walk, bike, ride their public transportation of choice.”
Anybody who has ever taken public transportation in Metro Manila, especially those who have to do it every day and have no other options to go around, know all too well that commuting does a good job of stripping one of dignity.
People try hard enough to earn a living and deal with employers who trample on their basic rights of, say, fair and timely compensation. They have to figure out how to make ends meet for their families, given the rising costs of basic goods and services.
As if these were not preoccupations grave enough to sap the energy out of the most honest earnest worker, he or she has to face, coming and going, every day, the curse of taking public transport. If it rains, the curse is amplified many times over.
In the end, they get to their destinations just a little less whole, just a little less free.
There is no argument with the fact that commuters have rights, that they deserve better, and that the ultimate responsibility lies with their government: planners and implementors.
The bill is long overdue. The problem is that even if it hurdles the legislative mill, its words, while good on paper, will likely not be good for anything else. This is because efforts to improve public transportation as a whole, and each component individually, have been sporadic and unsustainable.
Without foresight, good planning and even better execution, “dignified commuting” in Metro Manila will continue to be an oxymoron.