Vespa holds Freedom Ride

MANILA, Philippines - Vespa Philippines, also known as MotoItalia Philippines, Inc., the country’s distributor and importer of the iconic Italian scooters—Piaggio, Vespa and Gilera—and the Vespa Club of the Philippines (VCOP), together with sponsors Shell Advance, Yellow Cab Pizza and Allied Bank celebrated Independence Day by riding from Manila to Clark in Pampanga and back last June 12 in what was dubbed the “2012 Vespa Freedom Ride.”

The event, delayed by almost two hours due to heavy rain, was headed by MotoItalia GM Mark F. Gabriel and Vespa Club of the Philippines President Dax Morfe, and was participated in by Vespa Club members and select media who came as early as 5 am at the Moto Greenhills Showroom in Ortigas Avenue in Greenhills.

With fellow STAR staffer Ysmael Lozada, we were greeted by MotoItalia’s brand manager Rachelle Aquilizan, operations manager Eric Santos, and development manager Dennis Soriano, who gave us our designated scooters for the ride, the new Piaggio Liberty 150ie and the Piaggio Fly 150.

Around 7 am we had our gas tanks filled for the trip at Shell Oasis assisted by Glenn San Agustin, lubricants account manager of Pilipinas Shell. A total of 48 riders traversed EDSA to Monumento on a wet and slippery ride to MacArthur highway. We had our first dry road at the border of Valenzuela and Bulacan.

Re-grouping at Shell Malolos, we had the opportunity to have a photo op and to take off our rain gear for a better riding experience. From Malolos we had a straight road to San Fernando, Pampanga and on to Angeles City and Clark Freeport Zone.

We arrived at Clark Lomi House Grill and Restaurant around 11 am where we had our brunch and met up with eight more riders coming from a second cluster of their North Loop ride days prior.

The weather was abnormal as we experienced light rain and sunshine while touring Clark. I’ve never been to Clark on my numerous trips up North and am glad that I had the chance to see some of its scenic views including the Air Force City Park where you can find fighter jets, helicopters and anti-aircraft gunnery on display, the Clark Speedway, and the Expo Filipino Centennial Park where we had the grand photo op.

As for the return trip we had a stop over at Yellow Cab Pizza in San Fernando, Pampanga for our snack and refreshments before heading back to Manila for the after-ride event.

The after-ride party was held at Berting’s Grill Bar in Ortigas at 5 pm and participants were treated to games and raffle prizes.

Wrapping up the night was MotoItalia GM Mark Gabriel’s assurance that they will continue to deliver excellent service and to reach out and expand the operations of MotoItalia Philippines (Vespa Philippines) to greater heights.