Mayor prefers tricycle rides

Manila: A rich mayor of northern suburban Bulacan has mothballed his sports utility vehicle and has chosen a lowly motorcycle with a three-wheeled side car as his official service vehicle, a local paper said.

Early this year, Mayor Angel Cruz of Hagonoy has chosen the "tricycle" as his official vehicle to move around his town's 26 villages, the Star said.

To make his tricycle fit for his post, the motorcycles' windshield carries the logo of Hagonoy's municipal government. His political sign, a red triangular flag with a letter "K" emblazoned on it, hangs on his stainless steel side car.

Cruz, who belongs to a family of rich bank owners, said he acquired a taste for tricycle only recently after he saw the stainless-steel side-cars made in Bocaue, Bulacan.

He had just purchased his Honda motorcycle, the reason why it has no license plate yet.

Up to now, Cruz could not believe that a tricycle can travel an average of 12 to 14 kilometres for every litre of gasoline, unlike his former gas guzzling SUVs.

He was photographed with his tricycle when President Gloria Arroyo visited Hagonoy last week.