In this era of jet-propulsion, where we, the Filipino people, drive more automobiles, more power boats, more private planes and more sleek cross country buses and we have more miles of paved roads, more strands of sandy beach, more man-made summer resorts, and more places to go than ever before, we still shake an incomprehensible head at the lackadaisical “kalesa”, a native horse-and buggy, as it troppity-trops along the byways and highways of this land. 
The indestructible “kalesa” and its plain-shirted “kutsero”, who’s unofficially dubbed as the “king of the road”, look upon the mechanized march of progress with a mere squinting of the eye, distance as a challenge, and a mile as something to put behind them.
Several attempts to push the tradition-laden “kalesa” and “kutsero” to the side of the road in the past have been nipped in the bud. For, to quote a staunch defender of this ambulant relic of our past:
“the Kalesa is one of the few remaining vestiges of our glorious past….a priceless legacy from our forefathers that we should keep for always".
No comments:
Post a Comment