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Making Metro Manila Livable
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Sujan
9:46
Hello and Welcome to a panel discussion, 'How to make Metro Manila livable'
Chay Hofileña is the moderator for the session with panelists Isko Moreno, Joy Belmonte and Paulo Alcazaren
9:48
Moderator Chay Hofileña introduces the panelists. She says everybody feels the congestion and believe the city is about to explode. She starts by asking the panelists what are the priorities of the mayors, given their three-year terms.
9:52
9:54
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte agrees with Isko Moreno. She says that to make her city more livable, she is focusing on clearing the streets as mandated by the President. Joy adds that she is also changing the land use plan of the city in order to make it walking-friendly.
9:56
Chay Hofileña follows up by asking Belmonte about various problems like pollution, safety and the protection of pedestrians on the sidewalks that arise for those who want to use bikes. Vendors have taken some of these sidewalks. "What are the incentives for me to use bikes and how is safety guaranteed?" she asks.
9:58
Belmonte says that the traffic, pollution, work places being away from home, and the need to use inefficient public transportation are the realities of the present situation.
10:00
But for a better future, planning is needed to change comprehensive land-use pattern and to change the mindset of people towards walkability, Belmonte asserts.
10:01
Perfect segway to Paulo regarding planning, says Hofileña. In the first three years, the first thing that can be done is clearing the streets. He reminds that traffic is not the problem but is a symptom of the problem, which is the lack of an integrated transport system for the city. It is important to provide the city, the metro areas and the country as a whole with an integrated transport system - railways, mass transport system and non-motorised ways of travel.
10:03
One supporting structure will build ten pedestrian bridges, but none can be seen, says Hofileña. "Like mayor Belmonte said, our priorities need need to move from a pure car-based infrastructure to a more comprehensive transport system."
10:04
Hofileña asks Moreno about his plans for Manila for setting up a pedestrian network.
10:05
what do you think is the main reason of traffic?
lack of integrated transport system (0% | 0 votes)
 
lack of non-motorised ways of travel (0% | 0 votes)
 
lack administrators (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 0
10:07
"We are closing roads and opening green space. In Lawton particularly. In Lawton, there is literally no obstruction", says Isko Moreno.
10:09
"We went from 100% to zero obstruction. People should participate. Especially if you see your government moving heaven and earth, the very least you can do is follow simple rules. We are spending our political capital, no if and buts," Belmonte adds.
10:10
child rights
10:15
Moderator Kavita Chowdhury thanks Anjana for introducing the topic. She reiterates that the coverage of children in the Indian news media is unfortunately incident-based and lacks depth.
10:16
Chowdhury says that 40% of the population are below the age of 18. Even as we look at the budget, it is not more than 3.5%. All those who study child rights are of the firm opinion that one of the reason why children's issues get ignored is because they can't vote and can't act as a pressure group.
10:17
As part of the media's job to give voice to the voiceless, the media should take the case of children's issues, Kavita asserts.
10:18
Kavita Chowdhury: "Even during the lockdown I found that there is very scant coverage in the media about children's issues."
10:19
Chowdhury pointed out that during covid, there has not been enough reporting on the spike in girl child trafficking, the spurt in violence against them and in child marriages etc.
10:21
Chowdhury repeated that the media tends to report on children as an undifferentiated mass. Hardly any effort is done to contextualise it with gender lens, highlights Chowdhury.
10:22
Today's session about looking through gender, caste and disability lenses, says Chowdhury.
10:23
Chowdhury talks of child trafficking stating that reportage mostly stems from press releases from police and WCD. "What needs to be done is to put a human face to these stories. Journalists need to put in more field work and build robust sources to look at people behind the statistics," Chowdhury adds.
10:24
While reporting on rescued child sex workers in Delhi, Kavita met a gutsy girl from Nepal who testified in the court and became a rescuer. She also became a representative of survivors in seminars in Europe.
10:25
Most stories in media are about crimes against children, states Chowdhury. "But gender lens is lacking in the reportage. Reporters need to focus on gender based violence like child marriage (47% Indian girls are married by 18, and 18% by age of 15)
10:26
The voice of girl children was missing on reportage of recent controversy of raising age of marriage from 18 to 21
10:33
10:36
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