Filipino women cyclists pedal past ‘unladylike’ stigma, traffic to reclaim Manila’s roads
- Many Filipino women who began cycling during the pandemic are determined to continue, even as heavy traffic flows back onto the streets
- But they say it’s ‘like a war’, with groping, catcalling, vehicles in bike lanes, potholes – and a general prejudice against women on bicycles
Each weekday morning, Filipino mum Jaramia Amarnani grabs her bright pink bicycle helmet, pops the rest of her essentials in a bag and hops onto her rose-gold electric bicycle to leave for work.
On any given morning, she will often be the only woman pedalling – and occasionally freewheeling – along the narrow lane marked out and designated for cyclists on the 24km (15 miles) Edsa Highway, Metro Manila’s main artery and also its longest and most congested road.
It’s always like a war in the streets, just to get home
But despite multiple signs indicating that motorcyclists are not allowed in the lane, they swerve in and out, narrowly missing her. Evening is no better.
“It’s always like a war in the streets, just to get home,” Amarnani said later, after riding 6km along pothole-riddled roads to reach her husband and two young sons at home.
Come rain or shine, she’s determined to pedal her way through Metro Manila’s unsafe streets. A yellow reflector hanging off the back of her bike reads: “Working Mom, Pass With Care”.
But Amarnani is far from the only woman braving the Philippine capital region’s chaotic roads on two wheels. Despite an almost total lack of protective infrastructure and the persistence of patriarchal and social stigma, more Filipino women are choosing to hop on the saddle, pedalling towards greater representation – and for safer and more inclusive roads for all.
