A Review on

Tricycle Driving

Submitted by:
Anthony Von Ludwig A. Dimson
IV- Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC)

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Solution to the Problem
A. Pollution

Most of us by now must have realized that our planet is not like it used to

be. It is deteriorating rapidly. Our planet’s resources are gone. And what’s left of

us are the leftovers of the previous years that brought our planet to an almost

destruction due to the ever growing population and the technology that we

thought was here to help us but, no. Technically speaking, technology has

become one of the major players in polluting our planet. Globalization and

industrialization are included. Sounds grim, but it’s true.

One excellent example of this problem is a tricycle. Many of us have

already benefited from riding a tricycle to reach our destination on time. We

benefit a lot from this technology. But little did we know that the use of this

technology has cost us much more than we know. First, in order to make this

vehicle work we need gasoline that is taken from fossil fuels. The process in

obtaining the petrol alone is very destructive to our environment. Second, after

the vehicle uses the gasoline it will secrete out its by-product which is

compounds that are poisonous to the human body and has a disastrous effect on

our habitat. As pollution enters, the vicious cycle is completed. We use tricycles,

we benefit from it, it produces harmful gases, those gases will pollute our

environment, and after polluted our environment will deteriorate even more. That

means we’ll end up all dead.

Pollution is one of the major hazards of tricycle driving. It affects not only

us. In fact, tricycle driving has a long term effect on everything that comes in

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contact with it. Example is air pollution. How? Well, how long does it take for air

to be purified? Doesn’t it take years to achieve its previous state?

So how can we solve this problem?

The solution to this problem is substitution. Instead of using gasoline

operated vehicles why don’t we use those that need not? For example, we can

either use a bicycle, like in China, or ride a ‘pedicab,’ a semi-tricycle vehicle that

is made up of a bicycle and a side car with a roof. In that way, tricycle drivers

could still continue their occupation since pedicabs are a lot cheaper than

tricycles. They can now have a way of earning money that doesn’t pollute the

environment and healthy for the body.

B. Health

The health of everyone is jeopardized every time he or she inhales the

gases that are excreted by a tricycle. We cannot just assume that when a smoke

belched by a tricycle is white or colorless it is nature-friendly. We could never

base its environment friendliness from the type of the machine used. Is it T2 or

T4? The truth here is that even if the tricycle used is built with T2 or T4

calibration the end products will still be the same. Another fact here is that one

tricycle could give enough damage to the Earth’s atmosphere to worsen the

situation. And wait the worst is yet over, since most of the Filipino people (mostly

males) are a tricycle driver, it implies that we may be enlisted in the list of the

countries that produces too much carbon in a given point in time. We may

become one of the top polluters of our planet. If our environment is polluted we

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may get diseases from it. A new rampage of illnesses will arise and much more

lethal than its predecessors. Many will die and many will be affected.

But the solution to this problem is very easy and the same with the

solution to lessen our problem about pollution. That is by replacing tricycles with

‘pedicabs.’ When we talk about pollution it always connect with health and their

solution may even be the same because they are to the same means.

Another health issue posed by tricycles is that it can’t protect you from

major road accidents. Tricycles are not designed to withstand high impact

collisions. To avoid this problem a commuter may opt to ride in a jeepney or in

the colloquial language, jeep.

C. Economy

Tricycles have a large impact on the economy of our country. One may

ask why. As an Economics student, I found out that there is what we call the

‘undertakers’ in the economy. These ‘undertakers’ earn income from their

business without paying their due taxes to the government. Its either their

business is not recognized by the government or they have no license for their

trade. The idea of undertaking can be synonymous to being selfish. They want to

earn money for their selves only.

Examples of undertakers are, of course, tricycle drivers, the sidewalk

vendors, and etc. Undertakers are the second problem, next to corruption, why

our economy doesn’t improve. But it is not the undertakers’ problem why they

became what they are. Poverty has pushed them to be what they are now.

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Development Model
According to Walt Rostow there must be five stages of development. The

first stage, traditional society is defined as subsistence economy based mainly

on farming with very limited technology or capital to process raw materials or

develop services and industries. Preconditions for take-off, the second stage,

are said to take place when the country starts an open trade with other countries.

On the next stage, take-off, industrialization takes place. Highways and other

forms of business enterprises are built in order to make trading easier. A drive to

maturity the fourth stage, wherein the country should be self-sufficient in every

region and must have different types of industries. Urbanization occurs rapidly in

this stage. Specialized ways of transportation are also built in this stage. In

Rostow's final stage, the age of mass consumption, rapid expansion of tertiary

industries occurs alongside a decline in manufacturing.

The said type of development model suites our country since we are an

agricultural country. Our country could start again in the traditional way. That

implies our government should focus first on the reformation of our agriculture as

the base of our economy. It is very important for us to start here so that we could

give those million farmers a source of income and that we may not have any

more shortages of our own produces. When we start to make surpluses we can

now trade with other countries. That happens during the preconditions for take-

off. A surplus is produce that exceeded the ratio of the needs of the people. After

our country makes a strong trade relation with other trading countries we can

now start on the next stage. In take-off, our country will be mobilized to upgrade

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its technology to meet the demands. As written before, industrialization takes

place. Machineries can now substitute the workers and since the economy can

now support the population, there is no need for those who will be jobless to

become undertakers of the economy. The jobless could even start new industries

and businesses. In that way our country does not only improve the industries it

has but also opens up for new ones. Since good transportation means a faster

trade, the transportation will be highly improved in this stage so that our country

could host more foreign capitalists and earn us more income.

After the take-off stage, our nation could now proceed to the next stage.

Urbanization will be induced greatly in the drive to maturity stage. In this stage,

our country should be able to utilize every region for the gain of the country.

Terrorism should be eradicated so that every region can extend its power to its

full length. The means of transportation will still have a room for improvement

here so it shall be improved. The latest technology should be applied in order to

maximize production over consumption. In the last stage, also the fifth stage in

this development stage by Rostow, is the age of mass consumption. As stated

before, tertiary industries will bloom. These industries are not of much

importance but they will be improved still. It is also stated that the manufacturing

sector will decline. The sector will decline eventually because our country could

now support itself without manufacturing and because of the improved industries.

After these five stages, our country will surely be one of the most

competitive countries in the market—world market that is.

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Presidential Bet
‘I bid ‘NoyNoy’ to be the president.’

I don’t say that I like him because of his parents. I like him because he, I

think, has the guts to do the right thing amidst the controversy that will be thrown

on him when he’ll be elected. He has that attitude not to give up easily. I also

want him to win because of his platform. His platforms are centralized on

Transformational Leadership. These are:

1. From a President who tolerates corruption to a President who is the

nation’s first and most determined fighter of corruption. .

2. From a government that merely conjures economic growth statistics that

our people know to be unreal to a government that prioritizes jobs that

empower the people and provide them with opportunities to rise above

poverty.

3. From relegating education to just one of many concerns to making

education the central strategy for investing in our people, reducing poverty

and building national competitiveness.

4. From treating health as just another area for political patronage to

recognizing the advancement and protection of public health, which

includes responsible parenthood, as key measures of good governance.

5. From justice that money and connections can buy to a truly impartial

system of institutions that deliver equal justice to rich or poor.

If studied carefully, these platforms lie somewhat close to the development

model by Rostow. He wanted to have a clean start for the government. He wants

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to improve the economy by doing it not by making false statistics. He wants to

equalize the status of every people. Also in his platform is education. Education

for all must be the most gratifying thing our government could give to us.

Relating to the main topic off this article, NoyNoy when elected will use his

office to correct all the wrong and that includes the reformation of the lives of the

poor people here in our country. I think it would be impossible for him to corrupt

or abuse his office because he grew up working hard to attain his position. He

may help upgrade the lives, let’s say, of the tricycle drivers and all the other

undertakers in our economy so that we can head for a better future.

A proof of his integrity was distinct during all his life even when he started

working in different offices and businesses. He never used his socio-political

status to get what he wants.

He became a district representative, a deputy speaker, and a senator

without even using the name of his deceased parents.

He is a graduate of Bachelor of Economics in the Ateneo de Manila

University.

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Summary of Lessons
Economics has been truly a changing experience for me.

The whole school year, we studied about the meaning of Economics and

its tools. The tools of Economics are observation, definition and assumption,

deductions, empirical testing, and conclusion.

The economic resources of our country are also discussed. That includes

land and physical resources, human resources and employment, the mines and

minerals of our country, energy and the power resources.

We also touched topics such as scarcity and economic systems. We

defined what are scarcity, its causes, and effects to the economy. We

enumerated different economic systems and the problems with its organization.

The difference between wants and needs and how it affects every individual and

the economy is also discussed.

Factors of production, Filipino entrepreneurs, and the relationship between

consumers and consumption are also discussed. Lessons such as the demand

and supply, its elasticity, the market equilibrium are touched when we started the

chapter 5, The Market Mechanism. The different types of market structures are

also explained. There is the pure competition, monopoly, and oligopoly. We

demonstrated how the government regulates these different types of market.

When we proceeded to the unit 3 of the book, we started in

macroeconomics. The circular flow of economic activity is explained. The

National Income Accounting included the Gross National Product of our country.

We also clarified the different types of approaches to compute for the country’s

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economy. The two kinds of this approach are the expenditures approach and the

accounting approach.

Inflation became one the most talk about lesson at that point. We

differentiated the two kind of inflation. The two kinds are the Demand-pull and the

Cost-push inflation. How the money is being utilized by the government was the

next topic. The sources and the uses of public funds are discussed.

When we started the unit 4, we clarified the sectors of the economy.

These are agriculture, industrialization and the dynamics of development. We

related agriculture and industrialization to development. Other development

theories were also discussed.

In the last chapter entitled Trade and Globalization we learned topics such

as the international trading the governing bodies that makes decisions how the

world market should be.

Al throughout the year, we also give some emphasis to the current event.

Our teacher explained the importance and how current events affect the

economy. He pointed out that current events can really change our economy.

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