Road and vegan food trip honors the metro’s historic sites

The simple pleasures in life need not be fancy nor complicated. And even during a sober holiday when we’re supposed to honor our nation’s heroes, a simple tour around the cities of Metro Manila can be eye-opening, fun, pleasurable, delicious, and may we say, heroic as well.

That’s what our group of cyclists and plant-based lifestyle advocates did last Aug. 25, the day before National Heroes’ Day. Members of TessDrive.com, which espouses a low-carbon-footprint lifestyle through the promotion of a plant-based diet, zero-to-low emission vehicles, and sustainable co-existence, collaborated with cycling groups Cycad (Cycling Adventures and Advocates), Explore Your City on a Bicycle and Kalyetista blogspots, Japanese diesel experts Isuzu Philippines Corp, meat-substitute maker Quorn Philippines, and vegan restaurant Greenery Kitchen for a day-long tour down memory lane.

The “Heroes and Heritage Bicycle Tour of Metro Manila”, the 2nd leg of TessDrive.com’s ongoing “Project V360” series, took 14 cyclists on a route starting from Quezon City, passing through San Juan, and then finishing up in Manila at an easy 10-15 km/h pace.

The tour’s stops included:

• The Old Balara Filtration Plant and Cerro de Carriedo in Quezon City, one of the oldest recreational areas of the city, having been first opened in 1953. The park occupies part of the old Balara Filtration Plant complex, one of the main treatment facilities for water coming from the La Mesa Dam;

• The Jamboree Scouts Monument. Also known as the Boy Scout Circle, this rotonda monument at the intersections of Timog and Tomas Morato Avenues commemorates the members of the ill-fated Philippine contingent to the 11th World Scout Jamboree who were among those killed when their plane crashed in 1963;

• The Pinaglabanan Shrine in San Juan. This five-hectare national shrine and park was built as an homage to San Juan’s pivotal role in the Philippine Revolution, and commemorates the heroism of the Katipuneros who started the revolution against the Spanish colonialists in San Juan del Monte–the old name of San Juan City;

• The Museo El Deposito. A short walk from the Pinaglabanan Shrine is the Museo El Deposito, which used to be an old underground water reservoir built by the Spaniards in 1880;

• The Mendiola Peace Arch. Located at Mendiola Street in San Miguel, Manila, the so-called “Peace Arch” which lies so close to Malacanang Palace, the official residence of the Philippine president, can be considered a misnomer, as it has been the site of numerous violent and (sometimes) bloody demonstrations;

• Plaza Miranda. Regarded as the center of Philippine political discourse prior to the imposition of Martial Law in 1972, the Plaza was the site of the infamous 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing where two grenades were thrown into a political rally of the Liberal Party, killing 9 people;

• Intramuros, Manila’s “Walled City” and the political center of the Spanish colonial government;

• Bonifacio Shrine. Standing on the grounds of what is now popularly known as the Liwasang Bonifacio, the Bonifacio Shrine was erected in 1963 and was designed by national artist Guillermo Tolentino to commemorate the revolutionary hero’s birth centennial.

To add a more meaningful twist to the tour, all participants partook of only plant-based meals the entire day, highlighting for the participants the importance of addressing a current global trend that has alarmed environmentalists and climate scientists: The rapid, uncontrolled loss of natural forest cover and biodiversity arising from runaway livestock farm practices.

The massive forest fires in the world’s largest and most important rainforest–the Amazon–has somehow brought this grave problem into mainstream public consciousness. Thus, the meatless aspect of the “Heroes and Heritage Bicycle Tour of Metro Manila” shows how, in their own little way, cyclists could help curb the global demand for meat and other animal products. With less demand for meat, there is less need for more land to raise more livestock.

The link between going meatless and being a hero for all animals was also somehow established during the tour.

“I gained a better perspective of the significance of the gift of Carriedo and a rekindled fondness for meatless meals. Water, War and Life was an intentional and accidental recurring theme (when we visited) Balara’s Cerro de Carriedo, San Juan City’s El Deposito, Manila’s war past and floods,” said veteran city bike commuter Mia C. Bunao of Kalyetista and Explore Your City On A Bicycle.

Bunao’s group also supplied the #DAVeProject reflectorized vests for the ride and asked co-participants to give these away to helmetless bikers they would meet in their future bike commutes to extend the message of road safety.

“People who consistently promote the saving of lives of both people and animals are my everyday kind of heroes. I am honored to meet them mostly in our beautifully chaotic streets of Metro Manila,” she said.