Riding a pedicab with Mar Roxas as the driver

Sunday, April 5, 2009 | posted in , , , , , | 3 comments

The pedicab (also called as padyak or trisikad here in Cebu) is a symbol of the common TAO's mode of transportation. When you're going in a place that's not really accessible to jeepneys, we ride the pedicab.

When we ride a pedicab, we tend to choose the pedicab driver whom we trust, or we fondly call him our "suki". We don't risk our lives to someone whom we don't trust, someone who doesn't know where the roads lead us, someone who is not capable of steering the wheel to the right direction. This is what embodied Mar Roxas' latest TVC called "Padyakitos with Mar Roxas".

As what fellow blogger Zyon Jerekiel said in his blog post Nakasakay ka na ba ng Pedicab?:
Para maiba naman, ito ang isang panibagong simbolo ng ating gobyerno: Isang pedicab. Mabagal ang takbo, daanan patungo sa kailangang puntahan ay lubak lubak. Kelangan natin ng driver na MARunong. (To be different, this (pedicab) is the new symbol of our government: A pedicab. Its pace is slow, the road to our destination is not good. We need a driver who is sMARrt.)
Indeed! We need a new pedicab driver for our nation and we believe that it is Mar Roxas who can steer this nation back to where it was: prosperity, peace and progress.

On the other hand, blogger Neil shared his thoughts on Mar Roxas' new TV Ad in his blog post 2010 Election: Padyak MAR, Padyak!:
The ad though, is not as simple as it appears. The padyak/sikad is an analogy for the Philippines where, according to the boy: "Kanya-kanyang kayod po dito. Walang maayos na trabaho, walang pambili ng gamot." (Translation: Everyone here has to strive for himself. There are no decent jobs, nothing to buy medicines.) The little girl and the boy represent the Filipinos, who still hope for a brighter future – "Seaman, sana. Ako po, artista." (Translation: Seaman, I hope. Me, a moviestar.)

And Roxas wants us to know that he represents the future leadership of this country, by driving the padyak/sikad himself – "Ako na. Sama-sama tayo. Hindi ko kayo pababayaan. Lalaban tayo!" (Translation: Let me do it. We’re all in this together. I will not abandon you. We will fight!)
Another good point raised by Neil. Filipinos are hoping for a good future, but it would always remain a hope if we don't act, if no one leads us. Just like this: if we keep hoping that the "pedicab" would lead us to our destination without a driver operating it would be useless.

Do you want a "pedicab driver" who has a bad reputation? How about a "pedicab driver" who always changes course to exploit his passengers? Or a "pedicab driver" who claims to be an expert but it isn't? We don't ant someone like this right?

Then, let's also remember that our "pedicab" is not only of 2 persons, but of almost 91 million Filipinos. We can't afford we watch the lone "pedicab driver" to padyak all of us. We also need to do our part. If we want genuine reforms on how things are done, then this is our moment. Our moment to choose a "pedicab driver" whom we believe in. It's in our own hands.

Sama-sama tayo! Lalaban tayo!



About The Blogger
Kevin Ray N. Chua

Kevin Ray N. Chua is a 19 year-old blogger from Cebu City, Philippines and an IT Student at Cebu Institute of Technology.

He is currently the Secretary General of the CIT-SSG.

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3 Responses So far
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bluedreamer27
on April 8, 2009 at 10:50 PM  

Hello thnks for dropping by at my site

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Anonymous
on April 13, 2009 at 5:16 AM  

Nice move for Mar Roxas. So far the best Ad among the presidentiables.

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Kevin Ray N. Chua
on April 15, 2009 at 12:40 PM  

No problem Blue Dreamer!

On Orville, yes it's a nice move for Mar. The message was striking but for me, it still needs more. I also suggest that he use again his Mr. Palengke image and do a TV ad about his accomplishments. We'll, that I think might help him lift up from the surveys.

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