Reporting on the Environment --- 2012: The Year That Was

(Originally published in the Dec. 30, 2012 to Jan. 5, 2013 issue

of the Baguio Chronicle --- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio city ---

authored b y Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

FOR a number of reporters and editors, environmental events may appear to be “just another story” or “just one of the many to be covered on an ordinary day”. 

The Baguio Chronicle disagrees. Environmental issues are vitally important issues with implications at every level of society. They have their impacts upon people not only in a particular part of a city, rural area or region, but often throughout a nation, the continent and the world. 

S.A.M.S. Kibria, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), said that “the task of environmental protection and management is so vast that no amount of effort and investment by environmental experts and planners can be expected to achieve very much without the involvement of the media in motivating large-scale participation of the people.”

“As journalists, you need to know about environmental trends for several reasons; as members of a profession whose chief task is public information and awareness, you shoulder a great responsibility for familiarizing the public at-large with such trends and other complex environmental concerns,” he said.

Amidst the fast-changing landscape of environmental journalism, the year 2012 saw the Baguio Chronicle live up to its brand promise “Because You Have the Right to Know” with even greater resolve. Now on its fourth year of uninterrupted publication, it has established and proved itself even among the cynics, its own distinct style of reportage. 

The Baguio Chronicle took that route. It chose to dwell more on environmental issues instead of stories on sex, drugs and violence --- or worst, in the furtherance of corporate greed and/or to advance one’s political agenda.

The SM deforestation plans

ONE environmental issue that hugged the pages of the Baguio Chronicle practically all throughout 2012 is the highly-ambitious plans of mall giant SM Baguio to expand its profit orientation to its backyard along Governor Pack Road of which would entail the clearing of the remaining forest clusters within the central business district of Baguio.

But even before SM Baguio admitted it, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said he has been initiating talks with SM “to develop the area currently being used as a centralized bus terminal (along Gov. Pack Road)” which he said “would ease traffic along Session Road”.

Quickly, SM said that “the expanded and renovated SM City Baguio is planned as a seven-level, open-air retail, dining and entertainment destination” which “will rely almost exclusively on natural ventilation for the mall’s generous public spaces” and that it is so designed to siphon more people to its doors by providing additional mall entrance along Gov. Pack Road and “for those customers who still chose to arrive by automobiles, almost 1,000 additional underground parking spaces will be provided under the expansion”. The expansion (totaling 76,000 square meters of floor area in addition to the existing 106,000 square meters) would make it the largest of all the SM Malls outside of Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, Domogan said that “it has undergone the process” and that “the plans have been submitted to the proper agencies, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)”.

Following a volley of rejections practically from all directions, an obviously agitated Domogan returned fire by saying that “as far as the application for tree cutting and the earth-balling of the trees are concerned, no less than the DENR have been the one which issued the permits”, denying to high heavens any participation. 

DENR said there have been no violations committed against Executive Order 23 (issued on February 1, 2011) which declared a moratorium on cutting and harvesting of timber in the natural and residual forests. DENR said the trees which SM Baguio intends to kill are within a private property and are therefore out of reach of the total log ban (or Executive Order 23).

Meanwhile, SM offered to rehabilitate the 34-year old and dilapidated Baguio Convention Center on a public-private partnership arrangement.

But then, as always, the thinking population cannot just be easily tricked.

“It is not just the need for a parking area that is important,” retired architect Joseph Alabanza said. “There are many things to be considered; are we trying to resolve the problem of reducing traffic at Session Road? Is it consistent with the long-term plan to pedestrianize Session Road or decongest the central business district? I doubt it. It will generate more traffic.” 

“This is totally unacceptable and callously insensitive to the importance of trees to the environment and ecology,” an on-line petition read that has started to gather support by the minute. 

“We protest vehemently this intended act,” declared the on-line petition launched and addressed to no less than President Benigno Aquino, Environmental Protection Secretary Nereus ‘Neric’ Acosta, and DENR Secretary Ramon Paje.

“What is important to me is that we have a centralized bus terminal and the revenue that the city will be able to generate from it,” Domogan replied. “The development plan is already finished; there is no more turning back,” a defeatist Domogan said in defense of SM.

Boycott SM Baguio!

ON January 20, thousands of citizens took the streets to voice out their opposition in what was so far the biggest mass protest that Baguio ever saw --- not even at the height of the anti-Marcos movement in the ‘80s. But it did not end there after the protesters called it a day. They are taking the legal avenue.

A week later, after repeatedly washing hands from any participation in the issuance of tree cutting permit to SM, Domogan finally admitted to have endorsed it. He run to the rescue of SM by saying that it has complied with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of the city as well as the zoning ordinance; hence, the city government has no legal ground to prohibit the development plan.

“Since it is now a private property, the owner has the right to exercise its plans for development,” the Baguio Chronicle quoted Domogan.

On February 23, the Cordillera Global Network, the Cordillera People’s Alliance, the Cordillera Indigenous People Legal Center, the Cordillera Ecological Pine Tree Center, and several private citizens sued for a for a temporary environmental protection order or TEPO at the same sought to nullify and void the permits granted by DENR and the building permit issued by the City Building and Architecture (CBAO) in favor of SM Investments Corporation or SMIC. 

It was initially heard on March 15 and 21 where a “gentleman’s agreement” was made for SM not to move pending the resolution of the petition for a TEPO. 

Meanwhile, the signature campaign to save the trees have reached 30,000, gathered mostly during the Baguio Flower Festival’s Session Road in Bloom. It was nearing 50,000 as of the latest count.

Near midnight of April 9, SM Baguio ditched betrayed the “gentleman’s agreement” and made true of its long-standing threat when its hired men and smoke-belching machines zeroed-in on the trees. By day-break, no less than a dozen fallen trees are down. The protesters can only watch in hysteria --- their cries and banging of the mall’s GI sheet walls drowned by the roar of a backhoe slowly eating its way into the trees’ roots.

The petitioners raced against the clock and pushed their luck in getting a TEPO. On April 10, Presiding Judge Antonio Esteves of RTC Branch 5 ordered SM Investments Corp. and its agents and all persons acting in its behalf to enjoin from conducting cutting, earth-balling and uprooting of trees within the Luneta Hill area “until after the terminations of the proceedings of this case”.

Invoking the public’s right to clean air as mandated under the Clean Air Act, Esteves cited the assertion of the plaintiffs that “tree-cutting and earth-balling of (the) said trees will exacerbate the aerial situation in the central business district of the city of Baguio and will lead to deleterious effects on public health and the general welfare of the people”.

On April 22, the 1st Baguio City Environmental Summit passed the Baguio Declaration seeking to revoke the permit given to SM Prime Holdings for its expansion project. The Declaration also pushed for the investigation of the status and legality of SM Prime Holding’s land ownership over Luneta Hill and surrounding areas, promote good governance and hold the concerned Baguio City officials, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other government officials and agencies accountable for their decisions and wrongdoings.

“In our desire for a Baguio City that is progressive, sustainable and responsive to the needs and sentiments of its people; in our deep respect for Mother Nature, its ecological balance and integrity of creation and after thorough and all-rounded discussions and deliberations while keeping the common good of the people of Baguio in mind, we now forward our recommendations, with the expectation that these serve as a guide for our policy-makers, decision-makers and urban planners, as well as our own respective organizations in defining the future development plans of Baguio City,” the Declaration said.

The declaration was ‘served’ to Mayor Domogan but it was marred by tension when Atty. Eldora Tabdi who introduced herself as the legal officer of the Baguio City Police Department intervened. “If you do not get out from the City Hall premises, we will disperse you,” Tabdi said.

The case entered mediation. Both camps stood their grounds. Well-financed lawyers backed by a well-oiled propaganda machinery versus a ragtag but dedicated legal team working pro-bono.

Mediation failed. A full-scale court battle ensued. The judge called for marathon hearings. 

In October, the protesters scored a victory outside of the court by getting into their side world-famous rock musician Sting whose Manila engagement was originally booked at the Mall of Asia. The environmentalist rock star eventually moved the show to Araneta Coliseum with a categorical statement that he is against SM Baguio’s deforestation plans.

On December 3, Judge Esteves handed down a sad verdict by dismissing the complaints and lifting the TEPO for failure of the petitioners to present any proof to sustain their claims.

But the opposition vowed to keep the fight alive by way of an appeal. Lately, they have petitioned President Aquino to do something.

The “biggest mining disaster” in Philippine history

ON August 1, after days of continuous rains, the bottom of the 20-year old 92-hectare mine tailings dam of Philex Mining Corporation in Tuba, Benguet breached. Tons upon tons of sticky silts cascaded into the Balog Creek below where an unsuspecting village mainly dependent on fishing silently lay in wait. Agno River is merely 2.5 kilometers away.

The Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau or MGB ordered Philex to immediately halt its operations. Philex complied. But not before insisting that the “spill” is “non-toxic”. Philex later claimed that it has been “absolved” by the MGB. But the MGB vehemently disowned the claim. As a last straw, Philex said it intends to contest the penalties initially estimated to be a billion pesos because it was “accidental” (force majeure).

MGB said that the first two “major spills” happened in span of 14 hours on August 1 and 2 and were entered in the log books of Philex as “controlled” not more than six hours from each occurrence. It was pronounced as “plugged” almost two months later after Philex dropped metal balls filled with concrete mix (the largest of which was 9 meters in diameter) into the crater. Container vans and junk bulldozers and trucks were also fed the crater which it easily swallowed. Nine other “non-major” spillages occurred between August 11 and September 13. On September 27, the last of the three concrete plugs (totaling nearly 100 meters long) inside the one-kilometer drain tunnel was completed to compliment the giant balls and junk metals earlier fed the crater. By now, the gaping crater is already about 30 hectares wide.

To date, MGB estimates more than 13.5 million metric meters of mine tailings have escaped into the Balog Creek, a tributary to Agno River 2.5 kilometers from ground zero and more than 10 kilometers upstream San Roque Dam in Pangasinan. Other estimates placed it at 20 million metric tons. Sitio Pangbasan in Dalupirip just below the tailings dam is the hardest hit. Meanwhile, the villages along Balog Creek have reported loss of their livelihood.

The Philex incident brought back images of a similar incident when, on the March 24, 1996, the mine tailings dam of Marcopper Mining Corporation in Boac, Marinduque spilled its contents into the Makulapnit and Boac Rivers.

“The toxic spills immediately caused flash floods which isolated five villages, with a population of 4,400 people, along the far side of the Boac River. One village, Barangay Hinapula, was buried under six feet of muddy floodwater and 400 families had to flee to higher grounds. Their sources of drinking water were contaminated while fish, freshwater shrimp and pigs were killed. Helicopters had to fly in food, water and medical supplies to the isolated villages. Residents of 20 villages out of the 60 villages in the whole province were advised to evacuate their communities,” Victoria Tauli-Corpuz of Third World Network wrote.

But even while the Marcopper incident is considered the worst mining disaster in terms of toxicity, the volume of the Philex spill which is nearly ten times more than that of Marcopper’s, makes it (the Philex spill) --- volume wise --- the “biggest mining disaster” in Philippine history.

The Philex spill happened less than a month after President Aquino signed Executive Order 79 seeking to institutionalize and implement reforms in the Philippine mining sector by providing policies and guidelines “to ensure environmental protection and responsible mining in the utilization of mineral resources.

Simultaneously, the 20,000-strong Federation of Small-Scale Miners in Benguet expressed fears that EO 79 only benefits the large-scale mining corporations and will eventually lead to their demise. The federation, in 2012, grappled with its own hazards of the trade with several deaths and injuries from slides and cave-in.

Others

OTHER environmental issues that we grappled with in 2012 was the attempt of the Benguet State University to cut 50,000 trees to give way to its employees’ housing in La Trinidad, Benguet. 

Meanwhile, Baguio continues with its elusive and seemingly desperate search for its own engineered sanitary landfill or ESL. The Irisan Dumpsite was closed for good following the infamous ‘thrashlide’ in August 2011 which sent an estimated 15,000 tons of garbage cascading into Brgy. Tadiangan in the nearby town of Tuba. Killed in the incident were Jefonie Leon Laglangan Cael, 18; Noemi Cael, 20; Reveller Genesis Tacio Flores, 13; Apolinario Tacio Flores, 10; and Franco Tacio Flores, 16. Their grandmother was also killed while their cousin John was injured.

To date, Baguio’s garbage problem continue to gobble up taxpayers’ money by the millions. Baguio presently dumps its garbage in Urdaneta City in Pangasinan while the city government remains fickle-minded on suing Protech for reneging on its contract. The environmental recycling system or ERS that the city government purchased through Protech remains in and out of service. The city government is yet to generate revenue from the fertilizers that the ERS is supposed to convert from the garbage it is fed.

Early on, Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan said that deforestation is gaining fast at Mt. Cabuyao in the town of Tuba. After conducting an ocular inspection which confirmed his fears, Fongwan threatened to cancell the certificates of titles issued to the residents thereat.

The Ordinance banning plastic bags at the city market and in sari-sari stores is supposed to take effect in 2012. But even before it happened, Domogan displayed his usual defeatist attitude by saying that the implementation of the ordinance is next to impossible, if not totally impossible, in the absence of a more feasible a alternative. Plastic is still the practical and the only readily available option compared to the lowly bayong, he said.

La Trinidad meanwhile grappled with technicalities in the purchase of its one-of-a-kind solution to its garbage problem: The Black Hole. 

The Chamber of Kalinga Producers launched its own campaign against plastic bags while Mankayan was divided on whether to mine or not. Bontoc has started looking for its own engineered sanitary landfill or ESL. Further north, Kalinga insinuated that it will not hesitate to sue for a Writ of Kalikasan versus Mountain Province over the pollution of Chico River by the latter through the years.

Atok, Bakun, Buguias and Mankayan sat down as members of the Mt. Trail Inter-Local Health Zone (ILHZ) Board and passed a resolution requesting the member towns to enact their own ordinances banning plastic sando bags and styrofoams in their respective towns. Tublay said it is currently finalizing its own “zero-plastic” ordinance.

In May, the Baguio Chronicle reported President Aquino as having ordered a comprehensive land use plan or CLUP for Baguio (and Boracay) to prevent over-development.*

A Car-Free Day. How about Baguio?

(Originally published in the Dec. 2 to 8, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

THOUSANDS of clean air advocates are set to gathered last November 25 at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City to call for cleaner air and better health. 

Dubbed as “Clean Air? Pwede!!!”, the move sought for at least one Car-Free Day in Metro Manila’s roads every November as National Clean Air Month to reduce air pollution.

The activities started from the Ayala Triangle and followed by a “Clean Air Parade” to Ortigas Center led by the Tour of the Fireflies and runners from Youth Vote Philippines, electric bus and jeepneys, hybrid bus, and an Ecological Fashion Show by the Miriam College.

The event was initiated by the Partnership for Clean Air, a multi-sectoral body that includes the DENR, through its Environmental Management Bureau, the Metro Manila Development Authority or MMDA, the local governments of Makati and Pasig, Department of Transportation and Communications, Philippine Information Agency, Laguna Lake Development Authority, civil society organizations (such as Miriam P.E.A.C.E., Earth Day Jam Foundation, Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, The Firefly Brigade, Clean Air Initiative-Asia, Youth Vote, Ateneo School of Government, Earth Day Network).

The groups are also pursuing advocacy campaign for the provision of an efficient and ecologically-friendly public transport system and increase awareness on the need to build ‘walkable’ pedestrian-friendly streets and infrastructures. 

The Car-Free Day urged businesses to provide safe and secured walkways (such as Ayala and Ortigas walkways), urge the government to provide safe and accessible spaces such as bicycle lanes and pavements for pedestrian, as well as promote the improvement of mass transit. The campaign also seeks to educate the policies about the health benefits of walking, cycling and other non-motorized transport rides.

A Clean Air Concert led by Clean Air champion Lou Bonnevie was held in the afternoon which also featured True Faith, Mayonnaise, Absolute Play, The Drum Circle, and others.

On November 18, 2008, Proclamation No. 1776 designated the National Climate Change Consciousness Week to be held every November to create awareness on the ill effects of global warming and climate change “by pursuing broad and intensive public information and educational campaign to secure the collective cooperation of private and public sectors at all levels in finding solutions to this concern”.

The Proclamation also calls on “all agencies, government offices, and instrumentalities to collaborate in coordination with the private sector, and in liaison with the United Nations family, to conduct and participate in relevant activities”.

One of the activities of the National Climate Change Consciousness Week which drew big participation was the 32-kilometer bike tour on November 18 spearheaded by the Firefly Brigade.

There was also the International Conference on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Food and Environmental Security held in Los Baños, Laguna “to bring together researchers, academicians, policy makers and planners, development workers, NGOs and other professionals in a discussion forum for the exchange and updating of information, integrate and forge linkages towards enhanced regional capacity to achieve food, environmental, nutritional and health security in the face of climate change”.

Simultaneous was the “Ikaw, Ako, Tayo: Kabataang Handa sa Klimang Nagbabago” interactive exhibit and workshop at the Museo Pambata in Ermita, Manila “to educate students on the causes and effects of climate change, enable the students to identify ways of reducing their carbon footprint, raise the consciousness of the students on the urgency of addressing climate change and inspire the students to become advocates of simple climate change mitigation and adaptation measures”.

There was also the “Greeneration: Young Artists for Climate Change Awareness” workshops at the Asian Institute of Management and PETA Theater Center. The simultaneous specialized workshops focused on using the arts to raise climate change awareness and launch the program “Mobilizing Young People Towards Climate Change Awareness” which will be implemented throughout the year to popularize climate change issues through theater, creative writing and music; introduce 180 youth artists and leaders to the potential of their art for climate change awareness and education; launch the Pocket Performance (PoPer) developed by Climate Change Commission and PETA to be toured throughout the year that will inform students and the public about climate change in a hip and cool way; create a short music and theater improvisation on climate change; and publish 120 articles on climate change in campus journals and online blogs.

Taking cognizance of the role of the media “as a powerful instrument for spreading information dissemination, creating awareness and in shaping opinion”, the Creating Awareness on Climate Change Media Forum was held on November 21 at the Malacañang Briefing Room.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR says that motor vehicles remain the country’s major source of air pollution in the urban areas and that “there is a need to consider the use of non-motorized transport”. 

Early this year, Police Superintendent Allan Logan, the Chief of the Traffic Management Board of the Baguio city Police lamented the irreversible increase of motor vehicles clogging practically all the streets of the city. 

Speaking during the Public Transport Leaders’ Consultative Forum in January, Logan said that the number of registered motor vehicles in Baguio has swelled to 38,000 compared to 36,000 some ten years ago. Of the 38,000 carbon-emitting vehicles, he said, 27,800 are privately-owned while 11,000 are public utility vehicles of which 6,000 are jeeps and the rest are taxis.

Added to the motor vehicles fighting their way through every square inch of the road is close to half million daytime population compared to the about 300,000 some ten years ago, all within the same space (49 square kilometers), he said.*

The Enduro di Braggadocio

(Originally published in the Nov. 18 to 24, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

ALL trails lead to the Yellow Trail this weekend where mountain bike freaks converge for the Enduro di Braggadocio.

As of this writing, my “old” and “aging” friend Cesar Zulueta from Quirino Hill bragged that physical preparations of the trails are almost done and ready for bragging. What was originally a dream is now a reality, he bragged.

I say “old” because we have been friends since the early ‘80s when His Excellency Ferdinand Edralin Marcos was still the president of the New Republic. I can brag about that. 

That was when Quirino Hill, bragging aside, was not yet as crowded as it is now which makes anyone refuse to brag about it. Ces and I used to “jam” in the veranda of another “old” and “aging” brag friend German ‘Ulo’ Sales in Middle Quirino Hill, close to where I stayed when I was still in college.

I also say “aging” for obvious reasons. I call him “Manong Ces”, especially in the presence of the younger riders if only “to lead by example”. 

Meanwhile, I will brag about the “old” and “aging” brag ‘Ulo’ in another topic in the future, away from the subject of bicycles.

Going back, Manong Ces (who lately started spelling his nickname as Xes) bragged that the Enduro di Braggadocio will feature five “special stages” designed to test to the max the hardcore Baguio downhiller. 

“All downhill!” the old and aging Manong Ces bragged when I bumped into him at the Mandarin Restaurant last Tuesday, as if he can keep up with the braver and younger Baguio downhillers.

What’s the catch?, I asked. 

Nothing. No nothing. No prizes. 

What?! (I nearly fell off my chair.)

Nothing? No nothing? No prizes? Yes, Manong Ces bragged, obviously running out patience. The same old, aging and grumpy (and brag) Manong Ces!

The riders will just be timed for their run on each stage and the rider with the shortest accumulated time wins, Manong Ces bragged.

How would you be able to attract riders if you cannot offer even a bottle of SanMig Lite as a grand prize?!

Nothing. No nothing. No prizes. Just the bragging right, the “old” and “aging” (and brag) Manong Ces answered. Just the exclusive right to brag about being the fastest among the fastest riders in the very first Enduro di Braggadocio. 

They don’t call it Enduro di Braggadocio for nothing!

The generic Baguio downhiller is really a brag. Please don’t get me wrong. Mind you, he has all the reasons to be. I can brag about that.

He has the endurance. Endurance beyond compare. He has the speed. Blinding and dizzying speed! He has the power. Unbelievable power! And he has the best bike that makes my bike just ten pesos worth. He has the looks that I don’t have. 

And he has proven himself in many a-downhill tournaments such as in Sagada early this year. 

I was there! I’m a brag!

-o0o-

DERIVED from the word “endurance”, enduro (or ND for short) is a relatively new format which appears to have taken some inspiration from both car rally and motorbike enduro racing. 

Mountain bike enduro is essentially the competitive side of the mountain biking format often referred to today as “all-mountain”. It is a stage-race format where the winner is the rider who accumulates the lowest combined time from the various timed sections. 

International or world mountain bike enduro competitions take place over the course of one or two days. Week-long enduro competitions do also exist. 

A typical one-day enduro race consists of three to five timed “special” stages --- linked by predominantly ascending “liaison” stages --- on a technically demanding, generally descending terrain. Although a rider's specific performance on the physically demanding liaison stages does not affect his or her result, the liaisons are often associated with a time-cut off (i.e. a latest permitted arrival at the summit of the next special stage).*

It could happen to anyone

(Originally published in the Nov. 11 to 17, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

Bradley Wiggins: Tour de France winner injured in crash!, BBC Sport reported on Thursday.

I am not surprised. I am not saying I have been expecting it. It can happen to anyone, even to the very best cyclists on the road. It can happen even to the champions.

As a matter of consolation, BBC Sport added that the 32-year old 2012 Tour de France champion and Olympic gold medal winner is now in hospital --- after being knocked off his bike --- nursing damages in his ribs and is being kept in for observation.

Wiggins’ injuries from the crash were first thought to be very serious but later it appeared that he suffered a number of broken ribs and cuts and bruises.

“He was taken to hospital with injuries that are not thought to be life-threatening; his condition is stable,” police said.

A witness who saw Wiggins shortly after he was knocked over later told the police that Wiggins “was on the pavement; he actually thought he had broken his ribs; his hands looked bruised and they were curled up a bit and then his color changed; he was obviously in a lot of pain.”

Wiggins was on a mountain bike on his way to meet a group of local cyclists. The driver of the Astra, a local woman, was uninjured, news reports added.

His Team Sky has confirmed the accident on their website. “We can confirm that on Wednesday evening Bradley Wiggins was involved in a road traffic accident whilst riding his bike near his home in Lancashire (North West of England),” it said. “He is being kept in hospital overnight for observation but the injuries he has sustained are not thought to be serious and he is expected to make a full and speedy recovery.”

Wiggins, a father of two, is the first British winner of the Tour de France in July this year. Weeks later, he won a fourth Olympic gold medal at the London Olympics with a expected victory in the road time trial. 

In the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won bronze medal in the team pursuit. In the 2004 Olympics, he pedaled to win gold in the four-kilometer individual pursuit, silver in the team pursuit and a bronze in the Madison. 

The madison is a conventional race but with riders in each team riding part of the distance, handing over to the other member, resting, and then returning to the race. Teams are usually of two riders but occasionally of three. Only one of the team is racing at any time and the replacement rider has to be touched before he can take over. The touch can also be a push, often on the shorts, or one rider hurling the other into the race by a hand-sling.

How long each rider stays in the race is for each team to decide. Originally, riders took stints of a couple of hours or more and the resting rider went off for a sleep or a meal. That was easier in earlier six-day races because hours could pass without riders attempting to speed away from the others. As races became more intensive, both riders from the team began riding on the track at the same time, one going fast on the short line around the bottom of the track and the other idling higher up until his turn comes to take over. Modern six-days last less than 12 hours a day and the madison is now only a featured part, so staying on the track throughout is more feasible.

The aim of each team is to ride more laps than any of the others. Tied positions are split by points awarded for placings at a series of sprints at intervals during the race.

The madison is a feature of six-day races, but it can also be a separate race, as in the Olympic Games. It has its own championships and specialist riders. A madison typically lasts between 30 and 60 minutes, but can take up to 90 minutes. The Madison was a Summer Olympic event for men from 2000-2008, but was dropped ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

Born on April 28, 1980, Bradley Marc Wiggins started his cycling career on the track where he specialized in the pursuit and Madison disciplines and eventually evolved towards road racing.sad

Wiggins won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three further medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics and two golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Wiggins' haul of six Olympic medals, which includes three gold medals, make him the sixth most successful British Olympian and is the most bemedalled British Olympian alongside rower Steve Redgrave with six medals. In road cycling, he turned professional in 2002, but his involvement was limited by his track cycling until 2007.

After the 2008 Olympics, Wiggins took a break from the track to focus on the road. Initially viewed as a time-trial specialist and a rouleur (a type of racing cyclist considered a good all-rounder), Wiggins showed his ability in stage races when he finished fourth at the 2009 Tour de France --- the joint highest placed finish by a British rider in Tour de France history. 

With his impressive 2009 Tour de France finish and a podium finisher in the 2011 Vuelta a España, Wiggins displayed excellent racing form the entire season by winning the overall title in the highly important stage races of the eight-stage 1,155.5-kilometer Paris-Nice (established in 1933 and is also known as The Race to the Sun) last March, the Tour de Romandie (5 stages, 1 prologue for a total 695.1 kilometers) the following month, and the 1,052-kilometer Critérium du Dauphiné (7 stages, one prologue) just last month. 

The son of an Australian professional cyclist Gary Wiggins, Bradley started racing at south London's Herne Hill Velodrome at age 12. In 2010 he was inducted in to the London Youth Games Hall of Fame. 

At 20, Wiggins won a bronze medal for Britain in the team pursuit at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Games.*

Bike Touring

(Originally published in the Oct. 14 to 20, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

BICYCLE touring has much in common with backpacking and mountaineering --- they are both form of self-propelled travel and bring the participant into close contact with the natural world in both its gentle and harsh moods.

According to The Sierra Club Guide to Outings on Wheels, “there is a special appeal to bicycle touring that makes it unique among the various types of self-propelled travel . . . the bicycle is a practical means of transportation as well as a recreational vehicle”.

There are many advantages of a bicycle as a means of getting around. It is relatively cheap and economical. It does not consumer fossil fuel (except for the relatively small amounts of fuel needed to build it and manufacture replacement parts such as tires and brake pads), it is compact to store and can be easily picked up and carried into a house or other building. It is a personal vehicle so that is is ready to go when and where you are. It is fast enough and efficient enough to cover considerable distances in reasonable time periods. 

A bicycle is the ideal vehicle from which to see the countryside. It allows you to travel fast enough to move from one pace to another at a reasonable rate but slow enough to permit you to enjoy the scenery along the way. It is quiet, so you can hear the songs of the birds and the wind in the trees. The touring cyclist isn’t cut off from his surroundings by walls of glass, metal and noise as in touring by car (road trip)

And because of its practical uses, the purchase of a rather costly, good-quality bike actually may save you money in the long run, unlike most other purchases of recreational equipment. 

Questions about gears preoccupy anyone starting out to a bicycle tour. Mistakes in choosing equipment can be disheartening as well as expensive. The touring bicycle us a precision machine that is highly sophisticated in design and the cyclist is quite dependent on its proper functioning. Good equipment does not make you a good cyclist, but even the best cyclist cannot ride well without equipment that meets certain minimum standards. Equipment provides a means of having a good time, of directly experiencing the world around you and of enjoying companionship of friends.

A bicycle tour can be a one-day event, a three-month journey across the country, or a decade-long adventure around the world.

THE LONG DAY TRIP: This is actually just a very long single-day bike ride and not really a “tour” in the strictest sense of the word “tour”. Typical rides of this type can go as far as 100 kilometers as compared “bicycle touring” which is typically an overnight activity.

THE GUIDED/SUPPORTED TOUR: This type of a tour is where your gear (food, clothes, camping equipment, etc.) is carried in a vehicle that meets you at various checkpoints along your route. Some of these tours require that you pay to be a part of them where the tour leader drives the van or truck while you get to ride your bike. The benefit of this type of bicycle touring is that you don’t have to carry a whole bunch of equipment on your bicycle as you ride and you can simply sit back, pedal, and enjoy the scenery. 

THE CREDIT CARD TOUR: Credit card touring is when you travel by bike and pack almost nothing but the clothes on your back and a credit card (or cash) to buy things along the way. Instead of carrying a tent, you pay to sleep in a hotel each night and instead of cooking your own food, you buy food along the way. 

THE GUIDED SELF-SUPPORTED TOUR: This is a tour where you carry on your bicycle everything (food, clothes, tent, stove, etc.) you need to survive while a guide from a touring company leads you along a specific route. With these types of tours, you ride with a small group of people and are then escorted on a daily basis by an experienced bicycle touring guide.

THE FULLY SELF-SUPPORTED TOUR: Then there is the self-supported bicycle tour, which requires you to travel alone (without a guide) and carry all the clothes, tools, and gear you will need to survive for days, weeks, or months on end. This is perhaps the most popular ways to travel by bike.

Until then and have a safe ride by putting on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EAGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.*

The “Ten Commandments” of safe driving

(Originally published in the Oct. 7 to 13, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

A UNITED Nations’ study revealed that nearly 1.3 million people are killed on the world's roads each year --- and is forecasted to rise to 1.9 million people by 2020 --- while up to 50 million people are injured and many remain disabled for life.

Ninety percent of the annual road deaths occur in developing countries like the Philippines and road traffic injuries are the number one cause of death for young people worldwide and by 2015, road traffic injuries is forecasted to become the leading health burden for children over the age of five years in developing countries.

At the same time, road traffic injuries place an immense burden on hospitals and health systems and the economic cost to developing countries is at least $100 billion a year.

In the Philippines, road accidents is the fourth leading cause of death among Filipinos and the Department of Health (DOH) feared that if this problem is not resolved quickly, road accidents could be the top leading cause of death among Filipinos by the year 2020.

Latest available records from http://www.car-accidents.com say the Philippine National Police reported in 2006 about 15,000 traffic accidents or an average of 41 traffic accidents per day which resulted in 674 fatalities, 3,767 injuries and 10,623 instances of property damage. 

The report concluded that most the traffic accidents in 2006 were caused mainly by driver errors (4,182 instances or 27 percent), vehicle mechanical defects (15 percent), speeding (13 percent). The report also cited cell phone use while driving as an increasing cause of road or traffic accidents.

Between the months of January to June this year, the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) reported 2,300 injuries and 593 deaths caused by car crashes, again, driver error, vehicular defects, and bad road conditions as the principal culprits.

In a similar study, thephilippines.ph said that road accidents actually are largely caused by the lack of knowledge and understanding of motorists about traffic signs and road markings on the road as well as lack of personal precautionary measures when on the road. 

“But not only non-omniscient road motorists themselves contribute to their own respective accidents on the road, but also road ignorant people crossing the roads,” it said. “However, the ignorance of the people is not actually their own fault but rather the fault of the government to ensure proper education of the people especially the motorists regarding traffic signs and road markings the government have installed, especially the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the Philippines who are in charge of this public obligation.”

“It is obvious that many drivers still fail to follow the basic rules of safety,” wrote Alexander Villafania of YahooNews adding that many suffer from vehicular accidents with high incidence of deaths despite the Philippines having joined more than a decade ago the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Formally launched on May 11 last year, the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety has the official goal of establishing and reducing global road traffic fatalities by 2020, seeing global road death and injury as “a major public health problem with a broad range of social and economic consequences which, if unaddressed, may affect the sustainable development of countries and hinder progress towards the Millennium Development Goals”.

Thus, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2011 to 2020 in a landmark Resolution co-sponsored by 100 countries, again, including the Philippines.

There is also the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic --- an international treaty designed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by establishing standard traffic rules among the contracting parties. The convention was agreed upon at the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Conference on Road Traffic (from October 7 to 8 November 8, 1968) in Vienna. It was ratified by 70 countries, including the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) offers the  Unified Ten Commandments of Driving Safely. While these “commandments” are targeted at companies with heavy load transporters, they are equally necessary for drivers and traffic managers in keeping with the goal of road safety. These have been shortened to help readers to immediately grasp the essential parts.

1. LEADERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Leaders at all levels of the company must visibly and personally demonstrate their commitment to managing all aspects of operational safety. For driving safety, there is a clear definition of role, responsibility and accountability to nominated individual down through the management structure.

2. REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS. All drivers and helpers must wear the seatbelt when inside an operating vehicle. Drivers must be familiar with and must respect vehicle codes, laws and regulations (i.e., speed limits, stop signs, load limits, etc.). Drivers must not drive and work under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other substance or medication that could impair their ability to safely operate the vehicle.

3. PERSONNEL QUALIFICATION, SELECTION AND TRAINING. Drivers and helpers must be qualified, fit and capable of driving safely or spotting according to established criteria. Drivers and helpers must be within the legally prescribed age limit.  Drivers must be with valid licenses with the applicable restriction codes.

4. STAYING ALERT AND FATIGUE PREVENTION. Drivers must be appropriately rested and alert when operating the vehicle. Hauler companies shall monitor and follow the principal company's prescribed work hours for drivers and helpers.

5. VEHICLE SELECTION AND SPECIFICATION. Selecting the right vehicle for the task will ensure that transport activities are carried out effectively with minimum risk to the driver, to the load and to other road users. Hauler companies must ensure that all minimum regulatory requirements: Tires, horn, lights, mirrors, seat belts, emergency devices, wheel chocks, early warning devices.

6. VEHICLE MAINTENANCE AND SERVICING. Car owners must ensure that all vehicles are in a roadworthy condition and well-maintained. A system must be in place to monitor, record and ensure that preventive maintenance is conducted for all units (i.e. interval based odometer reading or operating hours). Vehicle must be routinely inspected prior to their daily journey through pre-start checks.

7. HIGH-VISIBILITY (DRIVERS AND VEHICLES). Vehicles must have all lights working at all times (head lights, tail lights, warning lights)

8. JOURNEY HAZARD MANAGEMENT. All risks must be assessed, particularly risks associated with long-haul journeys, night-time driving, use of higher-risk routes and areas, weather conditions, etc. When scheduling new journeys, drivers must help to identify and mitigate all known and potential journey risks.

9. ON-SITE ROAD AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. There must be road traffic management plans where driving is required to separate people from moving vehicles.

10. INCIDENT REPORTING AND INVESTIGATION. Companies with fleet of vehicles must report incidents including near-misses within 24 hours to the principal. All incidents shall be investigated and learning points shared.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time by putting on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EAGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL. Most of all, road crashes are preventable. There is no such thing as an accident.*

Aerodynamics

(Originally published in the Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

EVERY cyclist who has pedaled into a stiff headwind knows about wind resistance. It's exhausting! And in order to move forward, the cyclist must push through the mass of air in front of him. This takes a lot of energy.

Overcoming air resistance is every cyclist’s mission. Cyclists (racers and commuters alike) are aware of this problem and over the years have developed riding techniques and bicycle designs for reducing it.

Experts say that a cyclist accounts for 65 to 80 percent of the drag (wind resistance) while the rest is attributable to the bicycle design and properties. This is because the human body is simply not well designed to slice through the air. 

Most recreational bicycles in which the rider sits up have very poor aerodynamics and where air resistance is therefore at its highest. Aerodynamics is easily defined as the branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of gas or air flows which involves calculations of velocity, pressure, density, and temperature. 

In cycling and in bicycle design, improved aerodynamics aims to increase or attain the desired speed at the least effort (force or energy) spent. By reducing the drag by even 1 percent, experts believe, a rider can possibly gain more than a five-foot advantage for every mile at 30 mph.

The rider's position is very important to the overall aerodynamics of both the bicycle and rider. Researchers have shown that proper body position can reduce drag by 30 percent over an upright riding position. 

The most aerodynamic position is obtained by using the hill-descent position where the hands are on the center of the bars. In this position the elbows are tucked in and the chin is on the hands. Also, the cranks are at 90 degrees and the knees are squeezed into the top tube. 

Advances in the aerodynamics of bicycle frames have also taken place starting in the 1980s. Among the first was to utilize oval tubing believed to help streamline the frame to reduce separation downstream of the tubes. Another trick is to add fairings to the seat tube. This fills in the gap between the tube and the wheel which, in turn, decreases the pressure drag. 

New handlebars have allowed riders to achieve an optimal aerodynamic position while still allowing for efficient pedaling. These handlebars allow the rider to achieve the same effect as the hill descent position while still allowing the rider to pedal efficiently. 

Aside from modern materials such as carbon fibers, bicycle manufacturers are eliminating some of the tubing to decrease the drag. Usually, the crossbar is eliminated as well as the chainstays. Some designers have eliminated the seat tube which they claim reduces the amount of separation behind the rider. They agreed that when designing an aerodynamic bicycle, the combination of the rider and the bicycle must be examined together. Bicycles are custom-fitted for the rider’s body.

As early as the late 1890s, one cycling journalist wrote that the importance of wheels to the production of aerodynamic drag has been known. At that time, a company in England produced a solid disk and a four-spoked aerodynamic wheel. These wheels are capable of reducing the overall drag of a bicycle and rider by about 5 percent. However, these original aerodynamic wheels were significantly heavier than typical spoked wheels. 

By cleaning up the protruding parts such as the derailleur and brakes and using smooth curves as opposed to sharp corners, modest reductions in drag can be obtained. Another important source of drag comes from the brake and derailleur cables and in order to eliminate the associated drag, cables are routed through the bike frame and handlebars whenever possible. When cables must be exposed, they are placed either immediately in front of or behind the bicycle frame. When taken as a whole, again, the experts believe, the overall drag reduction for a complete bicycle will be larger by utilizing aerodynamic components.

Racing cyclists often wear the creaseless ‘skin suits’ in order to reduce direct friction contributory to drag. They also shave their arms and legs of unwanted hairs. 

A helmet can also help to decrease the aerodynamic drag that a bicyclist encounters. Researchers have found out that an aerodynamic bicycle helmet reduces the drag by approximately 2 percent over a rider with no helmet. The right helmet not only protects your head, but can also give you a competitive edge in a bicycle race.*

Stripped!

(Originally published in the Sept. 2 to 8, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

LIKE a hydrogen bomb 25,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb detonated by U.S. over Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945, the decision of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) eventually came last week stripping Lance Armstrong all of his seven Tour de France titles.

The USADA --- the national anti-doping organization for the Olympic, the Pan-American and Paralympic sport in the United States --- maintains that Armstrong has used banned substances as far back as 1996, including the blood-booster EPO and steroids as well as blood transfusions --- all to boost his performance to gain a competitive edge. 

By doing so, the USADA puts lifetime ban on Armstrong, all of achievements eliminated from the record books.

Obviously tired and sick of the many years of doping accusations, Armstrong decided to forego arbitration while pointing to the hundreds of drug tests that he passed as proof of his innocence.

Calling the USADA investigation an “unconstitutional witch hunt” and a “one-sided and unfair” process, Armstrong told the press “there comes a point in every man's life when he has to say enough is enough”.

“That time is now,” he said, 

He could have easily pressed his innocence through an arbitration process, but said he believes most people have already made up their minds about whether he’s a fraud or a persecuted hero.

USADA retaliated by saying it will certainly treat Armstrong's decision (not to go for arbitration) as an admission of guilt.

Armstrong insisted that his decision is not an admission of drug use. He argued that a refusal to enter an arbitration process is improper and unfair to athletes facing charges.

Lisa Delpy Neirotti, a sports management professor at George Washington University opined that “from an economic standpoint, Armstrong made a wise choice”.

“Since then, he has built his goodwill around the work he has done in battling cancer,” Neirotti says. “We, as a society, have a short memory. It’s old news now, when he performed, if he used drugs. People want to believe in their heroes. Since there is no hard-core evidence, they are going to side with someone they’ve loved and have done something good off the cycle.”

“By not letting the case go to arbitration, particularly with USADA planning to call more than 10 witnesses, Armstrong prevents the possibility of new evidence that might cause sponsors to squirm,” she said. By using the moment to also declare he will give more time to his Livestrong Foundation for cancer patients, he promotes a more positive narrative.

“I bet there are more cancer victims than there are cycling fans; I don’t have those statistics, but I bet that’s the case, definitely in the U.S.,” Neirotti added.

“I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours,” Armstrong said, insisting that the USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip him of his seven Tour de France titles.

The USADA doesn't have the authority to vacate his Tour de France titles, he said. USADA said it can.

Included in USADA’s evidence are emails written by Armstrong's former U.S. Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after a positive drug test. Landis' emails to a USA Cycling official detailed allegations of a complex doping program of the team.

USADA also said it had 10 former Armstrong teammates ready to testify against him, including Landis and Tyler Hamilton --- both of whom have admitted to doping offenses. USADA refused to say what they would say.

“There is zero physical evidence to support (the) outlandish and heinous claims,” Armstrong argued. “The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of (doping) controls I have passed with flying colors.”

Earlier, Armstrong sued USADA and was supported by the sport’s governing body Union Cycliste Internationale or UCI, the sport's governing body. But a judge’s heart is with the USADA.

“USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives such as politics or media attention,” U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote.

“Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities,” Armstrong said.*