Pedicab, ‘tulak’ boys earn big amid floods

On normal days, they are usually shooed away from major thoroughfares and are considered a moving eyesore in the metropolis.

But Tuesday was far from normal.

As nonstop rains pummeled Metro Manila and left thousands stranded in the streets, the lowly pedicab came to the rescue and moved the wet and weary to their destinations in relative safety.

In Manila, 48-year-old “kuliglig” (motorized pedicab) driver Rolando Medina overcame his “bed weather” mood and got up at 6 a.m. to hit the road, knowing he could double his usual earnings that day.

He and his colleagues in this largely unregulated transport sector practically had Taft Avenue to themselves after it was rendered impassable to cars, jeepneys, and buses as early as 5 a.m.

“When the weather is fair and the streets are dry, I usually earn P500 a day, but now I’ve already made P450 in just three hours,” said Medina, who went to work in just a T-shirt and slippers, and was already shivering in the rain.

He said he usually goes down with fever or the flu after a day like this in his 11 years toiling on the bike. ‘’But I’m still happy because, aside from the bigger earnings, you know you’re helping people desperate to make it home.”

He charges P20 “if a customer asks to be taken just to the other side of the road” and up to P150 if the trip would take several blocks.

But this is not “overpricing,” he argued, since the engine of his bike could conk out anytime in the flood. “A while ago, for example, I was stalled and part of my early earnings was just spent on repairs.”

One passenger, Jovs Gabrielle, 24, said she didn’t mind spending a few more pesos just to get home and that ‘‘hardworking” pedicab drivers even deserve a tip.

“The fares are just right considering the work they do in this kind of weather,” Gabrielle said. “And you’d rather pay them more than get stranded.”

Some kuliglig drivers tried to make light of the calamity by advertising their services as a sure way to avoid waterborne diseases like leptospirosis.

“You might pick up the ‘lepto’ virus! Get on board for only P30!” yelled Jun Ortega, who called on passengers at the corner of United Nations and Taft avenues.

Ortega said he had already earned P2,000 before noon Tuesday. “It’s cold out here but we only get to have a feast like this during bad weather.”

Aside from pedicab drivers, other enterprising individuals took advantage of the rains by simply offering  muscle power to move stalled vehicles or trapped pedestrians.

The so-called “tulak (push) boys” made a killing on Taft Avenue either by assisting motorists or carrying people on their backs at a minimum of P5 per trip.

“We actually don’t ask for anything, but we’ll accept it if they pay,” Reden Guardaya, 29. “But of course, the heavier the person, the higher the fee,” he said in jest.