What is a Padyak?

 

Padyak in Tobaco City

First, for our American friends, there are two official languages in the Philippines: English and Filipino. Filipino is based primarily on Tagalog (pronounced tah-gah´-log), one of 171 native languages spoken throughout the island nation. English is the second national language and is the language in which you will find most official signage around the country.

On-the-go in Naga City.

 In many Tagalog-to-English dictionaries, the noun “padyak”  (pronounced pahd´-yahk) is translated as the act of stamping one’s feet. Somewhere along the road of language evolution, the folks in the Bicol region on the island of Luzon began to apply the term to their local pedicabs – economical, human-powered transit. While similar to rikshaws and pedicabs in other Asian countries, the Filipino padyak is unique in that the rider is seated in a sidecar, beside the bicycle, rather than behind it.

And, as you can see, those sidecars can carry a lot of other things besides people.

With coconuts and more.

Hauling bamboo.

Padyak in Magarao.

So, Why Is Padyaks Our Name?Padyak in Naga City.

Just as a padyak is a used for short-distance hauling, we have now become a short-to-medium distance carrier of balikbayan cargo from south-central Ohio, destined for the Philippines.

Therefore, we believed that naming our business “Padyaks” would be a fitting tribute to the many hard-working Filipinos who do their part to literally move their local economies.

For that, we gladly stamp our feet!

With a load of coconuts.

    Our padyak.

                              Our padyak here in the U.S., custom-built in Tobaco City, Philippines.

Street Full of Padyaks

Here is what a typical morning looks like in the town of Magarao, near Naga City in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. These shots were all taken in less than an hour.  A couple tri-mobiles (motorbikes with sidecars) and a jeepney were thrown in for good measure.  Also, notice the freshly-harvested rice being dried on the blue tarps…right out on the street!  This is daily life on the streets of many small towns throughout the Philippines.