Cycling in the Philippines
is a popular mode of transport and recreational sport in the Philippines. Bicycles were first introduced to the archipelago in the 1880s during the Spanish colonial occupation of the Philippines and served as a common mode of transport, especially among the local mestizo population.
In the present day, many of those who cycle in the country mainly do so as a mode of transport and as recreational activities, such as road racing, mountain biking, and recreational cycling. The popularity of cycling, however, was initially largely limited to local neighborhoods and rural towns. Most urban areas were considered dangerous for cycling due to the dominance of motorized traffic with little to no cycling infrastructure for protection.
However, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension and restriction of public transportation in the country, many Filipinos have recently turned to cycling as an alternative mode of transportation, accelerating the development and promotion of active transportation infrastructure in urban areas.
History
Colonial era (1880s-1930s)
s were first introduced to the Philippines in the 1880s, during the Spanish colonial occupation. American author Joseph Earle Stevens, who was living in Manila at the time, described cycling in his journal entries in 1894. He noted it was a booming mode of transport on the streets of Manila, especially among the local mestizo population. He also described bicycle races in Luneta, Manila. On December 18, 1895, while in exile in Dapitan, Philippine national hero Jose Rizal wrote a letter to his mother, requesting that she buy him a second-hand bicycle that he could ride to town.Following the Spanish Empire's secession of the Philippines to the United States in 1898, bicycles made in the United States found their way into the local streets.
One of the earliest regulations on bicycles was in 1901. Under United States Army Provost Marshal General Arthur MacArthur Jr., the Taft Commission approved City Ordinance No. 11, or "An Ordinance Relating to the Use of the Public Streets and Places of Manila" for the city of Manila. Under Section 21 of this ordinance, bicycles were regarded as vehicles on public streets and were to adhere to traffic ordinances and regulations. Bicycles were required to carry a bell, which was to be sounded when approaching a street intersection or crossing or any vehicle or pedestrian occupying the street. Bicycles were also required to carry a light at night. Bicycle registration was instituted in this era: over 2,000 bicycles were registered from 1904 until registration was halted in 1906.
The recreational use of bicycles was marketed in the country as early as the 1920s, with a July 1926 issue of the Philippine Education Magazine promoting bicycle riding as an economic mode of transport with health benefits.
Commonwealth era and WWII
During the Commonwealth period, German engineer Frank Ephraim wrote that, before the Second World War in the Philippines, door-to-door salespeople using bicycles were a common sight on the streets of Manila. He also noted that bicycle theft was rampant during this period, as bicycle owners would lock their bikes with increasingly heavy and expensive chains and padlocks. However, bicycle thieves were typically able to cut the chains or pick the locks, a problem that persists today.By 1942, over 12,750 bicycles were being used for transport by the 900,000 people in the Manila metropolitan area. During the Japanese occupation in the second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army used bicycle brigades for invasions and patrols, with each officer armed with a sheathed katana and a pistol.
By 1944, the occupying Japanese forces seized carts, bicycles, tricycles, pedicabs, and pushcarts from the local population, crippling local public transportation.
Post-WWII
After the end of the Second World War, the bicycle continued to serve as a mode of transport for Filipinos, but it was dwarfed by the growth of the automobile, bus, motorized tricycle, and jeepney as primary modes of transport. As a result, the use of bicycles became more limited to areas with little motorized road traffic, as cycling remained popular as a sport and for cyclotourism.As the road system and inefficient public transportation struggled to cope with population booms and increasing car ownership, people across different socioeconomic backgrounds turned to cycling as a mode of transport. However, the lack of cycling infrastructure in cities has caused many altercations between users of bicycles and motorized vehicles, leading to a growing clamor for active transportation infrastructure to promote cycling as a safe, a sustainable mode of transportation, and to alleviate traffic congestion.
File:Burnham Park biking 2004.jpg|thumb|Filipinos cycling at Burnham Park in Baguio
In 2002, Marikina, in Metro Manila, initiated a bikeways program funded by a $1.3 million grant from the Global Environment Facility, a World Bank–supervised assistance program. A 52-kilometer bike lane network was eventually established in the city, making it the first city in Metro Manila to establish bicycle lanes.
On December 26, 2008, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed an executive order reorganizing the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change to improve the country's response to the climate crisis. The order also created a Task Group on Fossil Fuels, headed by the Department of Transportation and Communications to develop a new mobility paradigm favoring non-motorized locomotion, following the principle that "those who have less in wheels must have more in road". This was followed by an administrative order mandating that the DOTC and the TGFF create a "national environmentally sustainable transport strategy" for the country. Later that year, these responsibilities were absorbed by the Climate Change Commission created through the Climate Change Act of 2009.
Local government units have since also implemented cycling infrastructure and initiatives in their cities and municipalities, such as Marikina, Quezon City, and Pasig in Metro Manila, Iloilo City in Iloilo, and Vigan in Ilocos Sur. Other cities such as Mandaluyong made plans to establish bicycle routes around their cities.
From 2012 to 2015, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Department of Public Works and Highways established bikeways along various roads in Metro Manila. The first was a bidirectional bike lane on Remedios Street and Remedios Circle in Manila, established on November 15, 2012. This was followed by bidirectional shared-use paths on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, the Marikina-Infanta Highway in Marikina and Pasig, EDSA in Makati, and Roxas Boulevard in Manila. One-way shared-use paths were also established on EDSA in Quezon City, particularly from Ortigas Avenue to White Plains Avenue and along White Plains Avenue. The MMDA also established a bicycle-sharing system in Quezon City and Makati.
Throughout 2018 and 2019, the Quezon City government began establishing bicycle lanes along several major roads. In an interview, Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista also floated the idea of designating the inner roads of residential subdivisions as cycling corridors.
On February 7, 2019, the DPWH inaugurated the country's first protected bicycle lane along a national highway, located along the Laguna Lake Highway of Circumferential Road 6. The bicycle lane is a bi-directional bikeway spanning of the highway, physically separated from the highway with a planting strip.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, public transport was suspended and subsequently reopened with limited capacity. As a result, cycling as a mode of transport grew in popularity among Filipinos who needed to go to and from their workplace safely and efficiently. This, alongside decreased road traffic in many urban areas, as a result of the community quarantine classifications, led to the fast-tracked development of active transport infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes and bicycle parking, further encouraging bike ridership.With the country transitioning into the looser general community quarantine and in anticipation of people returning to work, the MMDA, in coordination with cyclists and scooter riders pushing for permanent active transport infrastructure, conducted a dry run of pop-up bicycle lanes along EDSA, the main thoroughfare in Metro Manila, on July 3, 2020, for World Bicycle Day. The agency also vowed to support the provision of bicycle lanes across the metropolis.
On August 19, 2020, the Department of Health, Department of Transportation, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Department of Public Works and Highways issued guidelines on the proper use and promotion of active transport amidst and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 15, 2020, the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act provided recovery and resilience interventions and mechanisms related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The act declared the need to accommodate alternative modes of transportation, including bicycle lanes on all roads in cities, municipalities, and provinces. It authorized the president to exercise powers necessary to provide emergency pathways, bicycle sharing schemes with safety equipment, and pop-up bicycle lanes, particularly for health workers and other frontline workers. Through the act, the Department of Transportation was allocated billion to develop accessible sidewalks and protected bicycle lanes, distribute bicycles and safety equipment, and to install bicycle racks.
Recent developments
On November 18, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte signed a proclamation declaring every fourth Sunday of November as National Bicycle Day. The proclamation provides legitimacy to the National Bicycle Day initially organized by the National Bicycle Organization, a non-government organization that had hosted the event annually since 2014.On May 11, 2021, the Land Transportation Office released an administrative order defining the classification, registration, and operation of electric vehicles and allowing personal mobility scooters, electric kick scooters, and light electric vehicles under classifications L1a and L2a to use bicycle lanes. On February 21, 2024, the LTO amended this order to require that all electric vehicles, including electric bicycles and scooters, be registered when used on public roads.
On November 28, 2021, coinciding with National Bicycle Day, the Department of Transportation announced that it would be working with Google to push for the inclusion of the nationwide bicycle lane network into Google Maps.
On April 15, 2022, the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act, which was passed to promote the manufacturing and use of electric vehicles, declared the need to provide options for micromobility through light electric vehicles. The act states that local government units should provide segregated lanes for LEVs on all major local and national roads, which may be integrated with bicycle lanes in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways.
In December 2022, the National Economic and Development Authority approved the Philippine Development Plan for 2023 to 2028, which outlined that pedestrians and cyclists should be accorded the highest priority among all road users in transport-related infrastructure.
On November 28, 2023, President Bongbong Marcos declared the last working day of November as National Bike to Work Day.