I wish I knew the name of the humorously creative guy who coined this now-household word (at least in the Cebuano-speaking parts of the Philippines).

In Cebu, the word sikad means "kick" in English; it is an action word attributed to the human foot. Sikad can be a violent action, like a karate kick. Or it can be a milder one like a pedaling motion of the foot, as when one is trying to float on the surface of deep water or to operate a bicycle.

One of the popular short-distance transport vehicles found in Cebu and in many parts of the Philippines is the motorized tricycle -- actually a motorcycle fitted with a passenger cab called a sidecar. The two wheels of the motorcycle plus the single wheel of the sidecar equals three wheels for the resulting vehicle. Hence, the term tricycle.

When the fuel crisisin the late 1980s and early 1990s caused untold sufferings to commuters, some entrepreneural soul thought of reviving a short-distance transport vehicle which was popular in the early 1960s before the advent of the motorized tricycle.

Back in the '60s it was called pedicab (a foot operated cab, in reality a bicycle "hooked" to a sidecar). In the '90s it was given a new name: a combination of "tricycle" and "sikad". Trisikad! How's that for Cebuano creativity?

You can't see a trisikad in the major streets of Cebu City because the government has banned them from these routes. But when you go to certain areas well away from commercial districts, these small, crawling three-wheelers are an everyday site from sunrise to sunset.

The sidecar of a trisikad can normally accommodate two passengers, unlike that of a motorized tricycle which can carry four averaged-sized Filipinos. The speed of trisikad travel is directly proportional to the leg power of its driver. So if you find yourself needing a trisikad ride (because there happens to be no other type of transportation available), and you're in a hurry, choose one with a driver who is a healthy young adult with athletic legs. And make sure he won't take in another passenger (by paying extra fare for an imaginary second passenger).

But there's a version of a trisikad which is designed to move light cargo instead of people (but as the picture at the right shows, this kind of trisikad can also carry people who pretend to be cargo!). Well, it can carry heavier cargo if it is driven by someone like Arnold Zchwarzenegger or Hulk Hogan. The original cargo trisikad has a "frontcar" instead of a sidecar. The distribution of wheels is also different. The "frontcar" has two wheels while the ex-bicycle has one wheel.

Did we say original cargo trisikad? Oh, yes, we did. There's an enhanced version of this thing, which looks like the passenger trisikad minus the cushioned seats and the roof.

To tell you the truth, it's hard to imagine Cebu without a passenger trisikad, a cargo trisikad, and a motorized tricycle.