By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – An economic crisis pushes people to engage in sidelines or extra jobs aside from the regular job they are already doing. But for 21-year-old Rodel Rosario of Los Baños, a sideline means the only way of making ends meet.
Pushing a trolley from “Crossing” to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños has become Rodel’s “sideline” for two years now.
“Kung walang trabaho, ito ‘yung sideline ko ang mag-tulak ng trolley[If I have nothing else to do, I push trolleys for sideline], ” he said.
Every morning and afternoon, he is like an ice skater gliding on the train tracks, his feet alternately stepping on the steel (instead of ice) to move the makeshift trolley forward. However, his movement is not as smooth and graceful like an ice skater because his “skating rink” is the railway and his so-called performance is to push the trolley that carries a maximum of five passengers.
A trolley ride costs P25, according to Rosario.
As I traveled along the railway for about 15 minutes from IRRI to Crossing, Rosario told me how strenuous and dangerous it was pushing a trolley especially when the train was still operating.
“Minsan may nabangga ng tren at namatay. Lasing kasi. Minsan naman na-didiskaril, [One time, someone died when a train hit him. He was drunk. Sometimes, some trolleys get derailed,” said Rosario.
Despite the risk of accidents, people like Rosario continue to push trolleys especially now that the train has stopped its operation since typhoon Milenyo hit Los Baños. While acknowledging the dangers of his sideline, he could not imagine himself leaving it.
“Mas gugustuhin ko pa rin sa riles, kasi dito, may kikitain kami. May hanapbuhay kami, [I still want to stay here in the railway because I can earn extra here. I can have a job],” he explained.
A day of pushing a trolley under the heat of the sun, Rosario earns P150 to P200, which is enough to buy food for his family.
“Pantawid gutom din. Sumasapat lang sa pagkain ang maghapong kita, [This helps me make ends meet. What I earn all day usually goes to food,]” he said.
Pushing trolleys to make ends meet
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This is so sad. Great piece, we need to hear about things like these every now and then so we're reminded about the realities going on in this country.
people are doing there best to look for ways in order to survive. this is a good video interview, am going to show this to my Japanese students who does not value the things they have easy life and all the conviences name it you have it. to make them realize that other people are working hard to make the best out of it
Fascinating story. A sample of the creative and entrepreneur spirit of filipinos..
this is what i told my teacher back in 5th grade about doing physical labour as an honest day's work. i told her, i'd rather be a metro aide than a government official who is corrupt n steals the money of the people. she was shocked. but i was raised to value honesty and hard work- as long as wala kang sinasagasaang tao, do it.
It is really a sad reality not just in our country but all over the world. This is only exacerbated by the insensitivity of our people especially those belonging to the so-called rich and powerful in society. There is so much greed all around that we forget that whatever we amass in this life we will never bring with us to the grave.
I admire people who do these kinds of jobs because they make the sacrifice for their families' sake. I once sold 'kakanin' as a little boy just so I could have some loose pennies when I go to school. My parents were so poor that I only had a pair of shoes throughout my whole time in elementary.
My circumtances have changed now but Its stil far from being comfortable. At least we continue to fight. Maybe someday, our country would improve and offer better opportunities for all of us.
this is my son vacation experience that iwant to share to everybody,my son who is 11yrs old and who was born in the states could not imagine that pushing a trolley to earn a living even exist,he feel so bad, and he said one day he will come back to the philippines and help the people to make there life better,since then he's been collecting toys and book and sending it to the philippines once a year.and he is learning visaya and tagalog.and he even listen to gloc 9. I think that visit make my son a better filipino and a better person,thanks to that person who push that trolley 24/7 MABUHAY
So he is a trolley driver for a side job and that is ok. Maybe he doesn't earn that much, but that extra money probably helps his family a lot... cheap car insurance
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