At Metro Manila in Philippines, two modes of transport are not just mere vehicles to carry passengers from one place to another. In fact, they are actually major tourist attractions. Unlike the horse carriage at Central Park in New York, or the camel bus in Cuba, which are actually used solely for tourists who go sightseeing around the city, the Jeepney and Trike are actually modes of public transport, ferrying hundreds of thousands of residents in Metro Manila.
Nonetheless the Jeepney, a mobile assemblage of signs, and symbols, decorative motifs and fetishes, rattling along the streets, is an aesthetic pleasure to the eyes for both foreigners and the locals. Meanwhile, the tricycle – an amalgamation of a motorcycle and a sidecar – has its own beefy and hunky aura that add charms to the otherwise horrible Metro Manila traffic.
The beauty of Jeepney
The Philippine Jeepney has a very colourful history, and is an integral part of the foundation of culture and development of commerce in the Philippines. Needless to say that it is considered as one of the contributing factors that helped support the backbone of the social infrastructure of the country.
At the end of World War II, when the US began reducing their military presence in the Philippines, they left a lot of Willys SUVs. Most of these military vehicles were either barely functioning or totally irreparable, but enterprising Filipinos began making alterations to the vehicle bodies and turned them into local people haulers.
Before the war, the primary mode of transportation in Philippines was primarily the horse drawn carriage, more popularly known as the 'Kalesa.'
It was not until 1953, that the first public transport jeepney first took to the streets of Manila. Leonardo S Sarao of Imus, Cavite, is considered to be one if not regarded as the grandfather of the jeepney industry of the Philippines. Starting with just 700 Pesos as an initial investment and a small garage located in Las Pińas, he manufactured a series of jeepneys.
At its early infancy, the first jeepney was designed primarily as a transport vehicle to convey goods and other necessities across the city. It was crudely made just to facilitate the movement of goods. Later on, the appearance of the jeepney took a drastic change. The bland outlook of the military SUVs was decorated with gilded iron mouldings, intricate art work of paintings depicting country side scenery, lapels, tassels, and sometimes glittery tinsels, to make them aesthetically pleasing.
And finally, the wrought iron symbol of a horse drawn carriage and a chrome finished horse, festooned on top of the hood as an ornament and as a reminder of a past glory representing the horse drawn carriage.
The jeepney has always been the favourite mode of transportation of the Filipinos despite the changes that the years have brought to this country. With the arrival of more modern forms of air conditioned transportation plying the streets of the Philippines, one cannot help but ponder the thought of how long the locals will continue to patronise the traditional jeepney. However the Filipinos are very proud of their tradition and even though there are now more convenient forms of transportation, the symbolisation of the Philippine jeepney is still held in high regard considering the tale behind its purpose and history.
The charm of Trike
To foreign eyes – familiar with films on the Second World War – the Filipino trike will instantly remind you of the military sidecars that the German army or Japanese army used during the war. While the vehicle structure is the same, the look and décor are very different.
While the military sidecar were mostly dark green marked with army symbols, the trike in Philippines depicts a charming look with colourful decorations and artworks.
The trike is basically a three-wheeled, gasoline-run motorised vehicle. It is made up of a motorcycle attached to a sidecar with multiple seating and a covered roof. The roof is often used as a baggage compartment, and the back is often extended to serve the same purpose.
Trikes were born around the same time as jeepneys. The sidecar for the trike is said to come from scrap parts, notably from GI Army Jeeps. Just like the jeepney, the trike has also become a Filipino cultural icon. Many regard it as an epitome of Filipino ingenuity, because the vehicles are an amalgam of different parts and materials — some aluminium here, some screen wire there, perhaps even an air freshener to boot. There is no standardised design. No two are exactly alike.
Tricycles weren’t legalised up until October 1985. President Ferdinand Marcos (the president at that time) released Letter of Instruction No 1482, which recognised that “The trike plays an important role, in the existing public transportation hierarchy in municipalities, where it is, in most cases, the primary means of transportation.”
Presently, the trike outnumbers the combined total of for-hire cars, utility vehicles, buses, trucks, and trailers in Philippines.