Trikes are very famous in the Philippines. A city in the Philippines without a trike is like a man without a leg. Trikes, as we very well know them, are actually tricycles – a motorcycle from 50 to 125 cc with a sidecar that could load passengers, food products, construction materials, name it and the “trike” can load them up for you. A mode of transportation for all seasons – so to speak.
Trikes in the Philippines are proliferating like mushrooms sprouting after a sudden downpour. They are practically in every nook and corner in the Philippines. Because for short distances, it is the easiest transport to move about and you can just ignore the Jeepney, bus, or taxi. But what makes the trike different is that, it is the cheapest vehicle any person can travel on, “fast enough” , because of its ability to traverse small alleys and streets.
Although it is helping a lot of Filipinos earn their keep to survive, tricycles are also considered traffic “nuisance” by many. Not only because they make a lot of noise, they likewise emit smelly CO2 to the air, and at times, “trike” drivers take no heed at all on traffic rules. More often than not, you could see tricycles plying along the main thoroughfares. And the amount of traffic a “trike” could cause irritates some, some are unmindful though, while others have the opinion that tricycles degrade the social standards of the country. Tricycle drivers are known to be people who didn’t reach any form of formal education be elementary or high school or they are school drop-outs. In short, it is a poor man’s profession.
No one can account for the origin of tricycle, but I would venture to say that it is a remake of the tricycles Germans use during World War II when invasion of Europe was being carried out. That is the historical aspect of a tricycle. In the Philippines, tricycles have a more social aspect on why it has become a popular choice of job for those who no longer seek further advancement or can’t find better employment.
There is a lot of things to be desired from the Philippine transport system. Tricycles have become part of that system, despite inefficiency, inconvenience, impracticality, insecurity and most of all they do not display progress and development, nor it solves employment issues because it is a precarious type of job. Despite many “nots”, tricycles have taken a role in the Filipino social life. They are tolerated. It could be a “well-being” for many poor, so that our authorities no longer take time out to control their multiplication. But a tricycle doesn’t evolve itself to become secured, efficient, practical, or convenient. Tricycles´ only evolution is its growth in number. However, at this point in time, nobody is making a move to eradicate tricycles, and I repeat, despite the list of “not´s”. So it seems that there is no other choice, but to live with “trikes” and die with “trikes”.
Thanks for your time….Eric
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