IT should be a matter of national shame that Metro Manila was ranked 'least walkable' in a recent survey of 53 cities worldwide. In a walkability study by Australian insurance firm, Compare-The-Market, 53 global locations were compared. Metro Manila was in last place. This should be an important 'wake-up' call, because all of us are pedestrians and every journey starts and ends with walking.

In the Philippines, millions of trips every day are entirely by walking. If walking is difficult, uncomfortable or unsafe, it means that a person may not be able to exercise his or her basic rights or meet basic needs, such as finding employment and obtaining food, health care or education. People prefer to live in places where it is easy to walk to jobs, services and markets. A country that has poor walkability will be unattractive for tourism or investment.