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[av_heading heading=’ URBAN FARMER’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY JULIO P. YAP JR.
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Wednesday. September 13, 2017
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MOST often, some are pedaling their bicycles either for recreation or physical fitness, but for many Filipinos, especially those who belong to the marginalized sector, pedaling their trisikadsis their main source of income.
Trisikad is the term used to describe a cycle rickshaw, and called a poor man’s taxi because the fare is relatively cheap, which will allow commuters who cannot afford to ride a taxi to arrive at their destinations.
It is a popular mode of transportation among many Filipinos who travel short distances along smaller, interior streets, to or from areas near terminals or loading points of public utility vehicles.
A trisikad is also called by different names in the different parts of the country likepadyak, pedicab, and potpot, among others.
It is usually propelled by pedaling, and ordinarily, operated by persons who are poor.
Triskadprobably came out due to poverty that is prevalent in many areas where the maintenance of motorized tricycles is expensive.
The owner of a single unit will definitely try to maintain their trisikads, despite their financial difficulties.
With the rising cost of repair and spare parts, the condition of some trisikads started to deteriorate.
One particular trisikad driver that is directly affected by the prohibitive cost of maintaining his unit is 70-year-oldMax Chua Villamiro of Sitio Aning in Barangay Pahanocoy, Bacolod City.
He has been pedaling his trisikad for more than half of his life just to support his family.
For the past 40 years, this has been his main source of income, and was able to send three of his five children to school to earn their college degrees.
Since he has been using his trisikad for the past 40 long years, it has started to deteriorate, which needed constant repair.
Villamiro, or “Mang Max” as he is fondly called, says that the cost of repair and the corresponding spare parts will definitely deplete his meager income.
But thanks to a noble project of a local manufacturing company in Bacolod City, which offers “free” repair of the trisakads plying the Sitio Aning route in Barangay Pahanocoy.
Every Saturday of each month, the RU Foundry and Machine Shop Corp., which is incidentally located in Barangay Pahanocoy, together with Father Francis Tumonong, had been offering the services of its technical personnel to repair the trisikads in the area “free of charge.”
It was learned that those who could afford to buy the necessary spare parts for their defective trisikads would bring their own.
But for the others who could not afford to purchase the needed parts to be used in repairing their trisikad units like Villamiro, the foundry is very much willing to replace the defective parts with whatever availablematerials that is available from its factory.
This will ensure the safety of the trisikad drivers, and the passengers.
With the assistance being provided by the foundry and Father Tumonong, the poor trisikad drivers whose units need repairing would not be burdened by having to pay the services of a repairman.(jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
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