Financing Metro Manila's people-first future

Metro Manila’s decades-long focus on car-centric planning has left its streets inhospitable to pedestrians and cyclists. My research revealed that 71 percent of residents cite insufficient infrastructure as a key barrier to daily mobility, while 72 percent point to high costs and funding constraints—and 59 percent confess a strong preference for private vehicles over public or active transport . These attitudes underscore a deeper issue: without rethinking how projects are financed, the city will remain locked into widening roads rather than creating livable, walkable neighborhoods.

- NIGHT OWL ANNA MAE YU LAMENTILLO

Financing remains a critical hurdle. Local government units’ heavy reliance on the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) constrains fiscal autonomy, and corruption risks—such as overpriced bike-lane contracts—erode public trust. To break this cycle, Manila needs a dedicated 15-Minute City Fund supported by national grants, public-private partnerships, carbon-credit revenues, and blockchain-based transparency tools that track spending in real time. Such a fund would ring-fence resources for pedestrian safety, protected bike lanes, and local transit hubs, ensuring that money does not default back into road-widening schemes.