Past MAP president Rico Severino sent a letter to Summit Media Publisher Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng regarding his reaction to the Top Gear article. In his initial letter to Ms. Gokongwei, he stated his intention to withdraw support from the magazine.

I am an avid car and motorcycle enthusiast and have purchased all Top Gear Philippines magazines since your launch in September 2004. Even the discolored issues.
Due to the very bad article written by Jesus Erle Sebastian; “Menaces on Two
Wheels”, I’ve decided not to purchase a single Top Gear Philippines magazine until the writer does a public apology.

This was quickly responded to by Ms Gokongwei, in a letter which was published by Mr. Severino in another forum. Here is the full text of the initial response.

Thanks very much for your email which I have forwarded to Mr. Sarne. Although I am not a biker myself, I understand why you and other readers have been offended. If someone from Green Peace announced that magazine publishers should be shot because of their tree consumption, I too would be angry.

I cannot speak for Mr. Sarne and I do not know what his actions will be after this. I believe though that in the interest of fairness, he will air the opinions of others who have been offended by this column in a future issue. I cannot threaten Mr. Sarne and tell him what to do. Summit has thrived on editorial independence after all. I can only ask Mr. Sarne to give equal space to motorcyclists and bikers. Please do send your opinions directly to Mr. Sarne, if you do not mind.

Thanks for reading Top Gear–until now. We hope we can get you back one to reading us one day.

Best,
Lisa Gokongwei Cheng

After which Mr. Severino sent another email to Ms. Gokongwei but this time cc’d to Motorcycle Philippines, part of which reads.

It is not good for Mr. Sebastian to represent your magazine and make
sweeping generalizations. “All motorists” with no exceptions have
their fair share of scalawags.

That’s the reason we form clubs and have groups like Motorcycle Advocates of the Philippines (MAP) to Promote Equality, Educate, Safety and care for the Environment. http://mcpfederation.com/pages/map.php

If you would allow me, I could show you motorcycle vis-a-vis automobile accidents. You’d be surprised at the statistics. Please let me know if you’re are interested.

Think of it; If you possess a valid Philippines drivers license and your vehicle has the proper Land Transportation Office registration, don’t we have equal rights on the road?

The final response was non-commital, but positive nonetheless.

At least we got the attention of the top brass of Summit Media regarding this article written by Mr. Sebastian.