For those who can’t afford to buy their own vehicle, riding the public transport is the only way to get to their destination. There are lots of them available for public use, world wide. There are the buses, trains, light railway trains, commercial cruisers, ferries, gondolas, commuter bangkas, and etcetera. The Philippines has lots of them too, may it be quadruped powered, fuel powered, steam powered or biped powered, and every island here has its own unique means of transportation or a rendition of the existing public transport.
Many centuries ago, Filipinos first mode of transportation is a cart being pulled by a carabao - I sucked at my History classes so I’m not really sure, and that's the only transportation that I can think that could have been available many centuries ago. And if I'm not mistaken, the cart is made of bamboo with no wheels. Well enough of about the history of transportation, before I make a schmuck outta me.
Padyak. More commonly known as, pedicab. Is made of a bicycle with a side cart attached to it supported with one wheel and can accommodate 2-3 passengers depending on how the side cart was made. Padyak can be mostly seen in subdivisions or public markets. And the pedicab drivers can be seen piled up playing cara y cruz, while waiting for passengers. I’m not rude, but I have to share my experience. Pedicab drivers (most of them) stinks, literally. They have some serious problem with bathing before going to work. And I really to be more specific, they smell like armpit-with-dried-sweat, coupled with shirt which they’ve worn two-straight days. And you can actually almost taste how they smell, very acidic. Ugh! If ever you encountered none of these, enjoy the ride ‘cause tomorrow might not be your lucky day. Though they can look and smell awful, they are kind. Fare starts from 4 pesos up to 10 pesos.
Calesa, small-horse drawn carriage supported on two tall wheels, built to accommodate two passengers and their baggage*. Cocheros (calesa drivers) would always wear their sombreros. And while on the move, the passengers can enjoy the view of the horse’s ass dumping a huge chunk of shit. Uhhhhmmm..Tastes like chicken don’t they? Ha ha! Have mercy on the passengers. I believe the calesa is the father of public transportation here in the Philippines. Today you can still find few of them running around in every major city in the country.
The tricycle. It’s more like the padyak, just got motorized and colorful. And did I say bigger and tougher? Did you know that a tricycle can accommodate up to 20 passengers? Now you know. Yes its true, but to only some renditions of the tricycle class. Classes differ from how spacious, how tough and what kind of motor the tricycle runs. See for yourself. Compare the tricycle from the city with the tricycle from provinces and you’ll say, “Ahhhhh…” Tricycle in the provinces is bigger and tougher than tricycles from the city. Tricycle drivers from the province prefer motors with more torque power than how fast they can go. So enough of the technical crap of the tricycle, let’s get into my business. So what makes the tricycle different from the other public transport, you ask. It’s the tricycle drivers. Why, you ask. A friend of mine would send me messages with plate numbers of the tricycle she’s riding, asking me to keep it for a while because the driver looks suspicious and is drunk. While waiting for their tricycles turn to be filled with passengers, you’d see them drinking on one corner of the terminal. And also they easily get irritable with the traffic and would end up shouting and cursing those truck drivers in the middle of the road. And if they see an opening, they’d speed up like a wild horse. A few years ago, I saw on the news about illegal drag racing, that tricycles are also being raced. How cool is that? Hey, this is the Philippines. Everything is possible just don’t get caught! Fare starts at 6 pesos.
The jeepney. The bad-ass and king of the Philippine roads. Jeepney is the most commonly used public transportation in this country and is available nationwide. From what I’ve heard, it is a version of the jeep used by the American soldiers during the world war. But I think our version was designed uniquely for the Filipino passengers. Filipinos loves to talk, gossip and the concept of “close-family-ties” can be seen in
how the seats were designed. In every jeepney ride, you’ll encounter people in all walks of Filipino life. A stinking fish vendor, lovers who enjoys casual PDA, a group of friends who enjoys talking anything from food to relationships or even gossips, a student reviewing the past lessons for an exam that he/she’s about to take in the next 20 minutes, a drunk man asleep with his saliva all over your shoulders, an old woman who’ll complain on how fast the jeepney is running even though its only 50km/h, a married couple - the cause why the driver has to stop every block but no one is getting off the jeepney – with children that keeps on shouting “PARA!”. You could also be sitting right next to a mugger, or a girl that would make you say “She’s the one”, a long lost childhood friend who in time you forgot his/her name.
While the tricycle drivers spends their time drinking, jeepney drivers spends their time in pool tables while waiting for passengers. This is what I’m sure of, 8 out of 10 jeepney terminals, there’s always a pool table. Jeepney drivers are also talkative and the three most talked topics are; (1) boxing/billiards, (2) oil-price hike and lastly, (3) oil-price hike. He He He. Jeepneys are also prone to street racing the only difference from other racing tournament is, jeepneys have 20 or more passengers inside. But still, jeepney is the most enjoyable ride of all rides. Fare starts at 7.50 pesos.
Commuting here in the Philippines can be sometimes risky and dangerous but most of the time it’s a beauty in everyday life of a commuter.
====* qouted from this page.additional links: this, this and this.
it is a catch-y name for a kainan pare. but somehow got me thinking if we really could get STD in that kainan pare. he he. anyway we continued looking where we could rent a board pare. we went back to the cottage pare and chipped-in so we can buy food na pare. we bought food and ate at the cottage by the beach pare. after eating pare, only two of us decided to go and take a swim pare. the wave was cool pare, you can really surf there pare. unluckily pare, we weren't able to rent able a surfboard pare, the owner wasn't there pare. so instead we used our body as a surf board pare, lemme show you how we did it pare.
there you go pare, convinced? he he he. pero honestly pare, it really was like we were surfing pare, dinadala kami ng waves pare. its so cool pare. hang ten pare!
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