In Pangasinan, a grassroots initiative is inspiring hope and resilience using an unconventional equipment: bicycle.

The Go Bike Project, founded by Edren Llanillo, empowers and mobilizes the youth to become active contributors in their community’s disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) efforts. These youth volunteers are known as “Go Bikers” as they bike to different communities to train other youth on how to respond to emergencies and assist in disaster preparedness.

The idea was born from a personal experience.

“This all began because I had a crush on a biker. I used that as inspiration and combined it with advocacy based on the problems I noticed in our community, like frequent flooding,” he said.

On top of this, Llanillo’s determination was fueled by personal tragedy. He lost his father, grandmother and uncle to heart attacks.

“I told myself, this should not happen again. No young person like me should have to go through this. That’s when I started the Go Bike Project,” he explained.

The project equips aspiring Go Bikers with extensive training, including a two-day program on DRRM, climate change adaptation, first aid, basic life support, leadership and trauma response. Each bike is equipped with first aid kits, medicines, and disaster-response tools, enabling trained bike patrollers to deliver basic medical services where they’re most needed.

The initiative began in 2019 with 70 Go Bikers and four bikes in Llanillo’s hometown of Bugallon.

Today, the program has grown exponentially, with 2,000 Go Bikers actively participating across 41 barangays, including Mangatarem, Aguilar and Lingayen.

The Go Bike team also extended their efforts during the pandemic by launching the Ronda Kalusugan program, which brought healthcare services directly to the homes of elderly residents, pregnant women and individuals with chronic health conditions. They also played a vital role in distributing relief goods to affected communities.