Unlike Fr. Reyes, Redemptorist priest Amado Picardal rides his bike across the country as a way of advocating a cause.
After biking for five days, Fr. Picarcal arrived in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental last Saturday afternoon from Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro. He was in Bohol Friday and crossed to Cebu City on Saturday morning. He has already covered 380 kilometers.
In an interview with the local media, he said he would bike for 5,000 kilometers across the country in 56 days. His trip started in Davao City last March 24.
He will still cover central and western Visayas up to the northern part of Luzon and ride back to the Cordilleras. From there, he will go back to Davao through Southern Luzon, Eastern Visayas, and Eastern Mindanao.
He said that most of the time he bikes alone but some local bikers sometimes accompany him when he passes through cities and towns.
In every parish where he stays for the night, he celebrates a mass and preaches the gospel of life and peace.
Last Sunday, he was in the major streets of Mabinay and Kabankalan in Negros Occidental.
He covered 518 kilometers of his 5,000-kilometer target.
The theme of his tour is "Philippine Bike Tour: Preaching the Gospel of Life Amidst the Culture of Death." It will end on May 18.
He said in the same interview that he'd done this as a form of sacrifice because "we live in a land where the value and sanctity of life is disregarded."
"We live in a society where the culture of death and violence prevails," he added.
In 2000, he also toured across the country on his bike in protest of several issues under President Joseph Estrada.
"Abi man nako ug dili nako mag-bike kay bag-o na ang presidente, naa ra man diay gihapon ang mga problema," he said in the same interview. (I thought I would not be biking anymore because we already have a new president but the problems are still there.) (EBS)
