Kyle Jennermann aka “Kulas” is many a Filipino’s favorite Canadian. Now he is also a Filipino. 

After vlogging happily around the Philippines on his motorcycle for more than a decade, and charming both commoners and congresspersons alike, Kulas was granted Filipino citizenship in 2023 despite not having any Filipino blood. 

He has since been one of the country’s most popular and earnest cheerleaders, gracing tourism events and cutting ribbons from Tawi-Tawi to Dubai. It’s been a sweet first full year for him as a Filipino citizen, having tied the knot with Therine, a Caviteña social entrepreneur, and dividing his abode time between Luzon and a blissful seaside home in Davao Oriental. 

It’s easy to see why Kulas’s persona appeals to locals: While many Filipinos feel exasperated by the myriad challenges of living in the Philippines, this naturalized Filipino clearly wants to be here, celebrates the diverse delights of our food, and makes friends everywhere. He goes where most foreigners dare not go. His photography and drone videos of the remotest places make our country look even more spectacular. 

Despite the mosquitoes, traffic and inefficiencies of everyday life here, Kulas has been upbeat and patient in nearly all the online videos and content of his I’ve consumed over the years. 

But several days ago, he finally admitted to a “little pet peeve.” It was triggered by an incident that could have caused Kulas serious injury or even cost his life. 

Off his motorcycle for a change, Kulas was crossing the street on foot in Makati at a clearly marked pedestrian crosswalk when he was struck by a motorcycle that didn’t stop. 

He knew enough to stick his hand out and make sure that the other vehicles would make way. Unlike in many other countries, drivers in the Philippines do not automatically stop at pedestrian crosswalks. Walkers need to plead with hand gestures before omnipotent drivers grant thee your right of way. Even then many drivers still bully their way through crowds of pedestrians who will part like the Red Sea for the Moseses of our thoroughfares. 

On this particular day in Makati, Kulas had just walked past the phalanx of cars he had asked to stop with a hand plea. But he did not anticipate what we weary commuters have all come to know as “counterflow.” 

In a move to overtake the stopped vehicles, a motorcycle rider sped past them in the opposite lane, the counterflow, and straight into Kulas who thought he had a clear path to safety. 

“Next thing I know, my body and leg were hit and I was sitting on the ground,” he narrated on Instagram. He had the presence of mind to pull out his phone and document the incident, but was still considerate enough on Instagram to conceal the face and license plate of the rider who had just injured him.

Lucky for him, Therine, and his fans, Kulas suffered only minor injuries and even  commended in the same post the staff of the nearby Guadalupe Ferry Station who helped treat his wounds. 

True to the persona that has endeared him to many, Kulas saw this potentially fatal instant not as an occasion to rant but as a teaching moment. 

Among the tips from Kulas: If you’re still able, document with pictures and videos the incident right away in case the liable tries to escape; and Pasig ferry stations have first-aid kits for emergencies. 

Finally, a plea from Kulas to drivers: “Please stop at crosswalks if you can… It really is a simple way to show some kindness.” 

Coincidentally, a colleague of mine, our enterprising researcher Alexandra, was hit by a car just last week as she was crossing the street in a pedestrian lane, even as a traffic marshall had stopped all the other vehicles. Fortunately, the car was not traveling at high speed and X-rays showed she didn’t break any bones. 

Actually, those two incidents occurring so close together was not much of a coincidence, since they happen a lot. More than 10,000 people lose their lives in road crashes every year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, with most of those fatalities pedestrians and motorcycle riders. Four years ago, I produced a documentary about pedestrian deaths after a high school student was killed in a  crosswalk by a jeepney that did not even reduce its speed let alone stop to let a group of students cross.

That documentary’s title was a simple plea, “Tao Muna Sa Tawiran,” or “People First in the Crosswalk.” 

Many lives can be saved and injuries avoided with basic law enforcement. 

Pedestrian right of way is guaranteed by law, the Land Transportation and Traffic Code: “Drivers in the Philippines are required to yield right of way to pedestrians within designated crosswalks.”

But really, sharing the road, as Kulas suggests, should be a matter of common courtesy. 

In the absence of that, compliance needs the threat of penalty. I’ve seen traffic laws enforced but only to benefit car owners and drivers. 

Traffic aides strictly enforce the number coding scheme to ease traffic for drivers. They’ll stop your car if you’re not wearing your seatbelt, an effort to protect drivers and car passengers. 

How come there is no similar effort to protect pedestrians?