Metro Manila Is Walkable? These DLSU Students Say Yes!
At first glance, walking around Metro Manila could be just like signing your death sentence — it’s that dangerous. Yet it remains a part of the daily lives of many, those with no choice but to skimp on convenience and those who would like to give Metro Manila’s streets a try.
If you thought that walking from one place to another in Metro Manila was impossible, then a group of students from De La Salle University-Manila (DLSU) would say the contrary.
Meet the "Chinito Walkers" — Irvin Ong, Bon Shi, and Idrian Lim — a trio currently making a case for a more walkable Metro Manila. Initiated by Irvin, who goes by the name JetNekko on social media, these students from DLSU-Manila regularly go on walks from their university to some place within Metro Manila to advocate that you can walk anywhere.
The Beat Manila got a chance to chat with the Chinito Walkers to get to know their motivations, realizations, and their thoughts on a more walkable Metro Manila. Read on to get to know them more and see how they feel about walking the streets of Metro Manila.
Hi Chinito Walkers! What is the motivation behind creating your content on TikTok?
JetNekko: Technically, I would say that I started the idea. We were having lunch on a normal school day — it was a Tuesday. Then, usually, we’d just go home via LRT. The LRT station nearest to DLSU is Vito Cruz, right? Then we’d go back to Bambang. On that day, the line to the LRT was ridiculously long, to the point that it stretched to the outside. What we usually do is walk to Quirino Station, which is a 5-minute walk, then take the LRT from there because the line and trains aren’t too crowded.
But it just came out of my mouth and I said, “What if we walk home?” Just for the experience. Then coincidentally, my song “Aking Sinta” hasn’t been released yet. So I thought, “What if I make a video of us walking from DLSU to Bambang, and then put my song in the background for extra promotions? ” I wasn’t an active content creator then, but I thought, “What if we just give it a try?” Then we did. It started as a joke, and now it’s something that we do.
Aside from being the Chinito Walkers, who are you guys behind the scenes?
Idrian: Well, basically we’re just a group of friends since high school. We all have our own lives — Irvin (JetNekko) does music, and Bon and I have our own hobbies and sports. With what Irvin mentioned earlier, no one really expected this to blow up. The next day after the video was uploaded, my friends were already sending it to me saying, “Why are you on TikTok?” And I asked the same thing because I didn’t know that Irvin was recording at the time.
JetNekko: It was pretty lowkey at the time, even Idrian didn’t know it was for a TikTok and thought that I was recording for personal reasons. It was just a timelapse compared to our videos now.
Idrian: We wanted to ride on the hype our first video got, so that’s why we’re here now.
Can you tell me any stories about your walks? Anything memorable or what you realized while doing your content?
Idrian: We realized a lot, there were also a couple of times when we almost got hit [by cars]. It was scary.
JetNekko: Our walk from DLSU to Ateneo [in Quezon City] was our hardest walk, and our longest walk so far. It was incredibly difficult because we experienced different weather in different hours. The first few hours were so hot, then it rained in the end. We didn’t have umbrellas; we were just walking in the rain. Our things and phones were wet, and we passed everything. There was a time when there was so much traffic, roads without any sidewalks, and parts where there was so much trash. Our main realization while doing this content is that the Philippines needs a lot of work in terms of urban planning and such.
What was the most random comment you’ve received on your social media?
JetNekko: There are people commenting that we should go to extremely far places like Tagaytay, Dasmariñas, [or] Baguio. It’s fun to look at because there are a lot of people talking about it and we have a lot of choices and places to choose from.
Do you receive negative comments about your walks?
Idrian: Only a few, those that say that we didn’t [actually] walk the entire thing. There are people doubting but other than that, none really.
JetNekko: There’s at least one person commenting on our videos saying that we have a lot of time. But actually…We plan it down to the point that we slowly lose our free time because we try to turn this hobby into something more serious.
Idrian: We’re having a hard time.
JetNekko: The other side that people don’t see is that we sacrifice a lot of time and effort for this, especially for editing. Editing takes so much to the point that the time for editing is much longer than our walks. I would edit it continuously because there’s a lot to do. It’s a new learning [experience] for us on how to balance our studies and content creation.
As avid walkers around Metro Manila, do you think that Metro Manila has the potential to become more walkable in the future? Why or why not?
Bon: Metro Manila has the potential to be walkable in the far future, as long as the people in charge finally see what’s happening and start doing things to make it better. The infrastructure and urban planning [of Metro Manila] definitely have the chance to become better.
JetNekko: I think there are two sides to this: the government and citizens should help each other out. It has to go hand in hand; it’s a bit impossible in the next five years, maybe in 10 years. We recently walked somewhere, and we didn’t see one clean river.
Idrian: We didn’t see any clean river, and they removed the sidewalks for the cars to have more space. So, I believe that it’s going to be possible in the far future, because it’s not going to take a short time to build sidewalks. For now, walking doesn’t seem to be a priority in city planning, so it will really take a long time.
Any future potential content for your “Chinito Walkers” page?
Idrian: We talked about moving our content to our main page on TikTok because our current walking series is on JetNekko’s. We do plan to make our group content on our page, but so far, we haven’t thought of anything.
Bon: Basically funny videos.
JetNekko: We keep hearing our friends saying that we’ll eventually run out of places to walk to. They keep asking, “Where are you going next? Won’t you run out of places?” From a content creator’s perspective, I feel like any type of content has its time, but we’re maximizing what we’ve created, and I think we’re the only ones doing this long walking series, and as of now it’s working and hyped; a lot of people are still watching. We’ll still continue our content; we’ll talk about creating new ones and we’re open to suggestions.
Where are you walking to next?
As of writing, their walk hasn’t been posted.
Idrian: We’re already struggling to fit three walks in one month.
JetNekko: Actually, we’re walking later. We’re also getting inquiries for collaborations, and as much as possible we try to fit them in our walks. What we can say is that it’s a university but stay tuned!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To catch the Chinito Walkers on their next walk, follow JetNekko’s TikTok page, and follow the Chinito Walkers on their Instagram and TikTok pages.
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