No, we didn't play hooky

I missed my column last week due to a trip abroad for a test drive only to find out that I can’t go home with a story to tell. It’s called “news embargo”, where journalists are requested to keep mum temporarily about a new product for one reason or another.

Well, I shall honor the news embargo about the product but still with a story to tell about the trip if only just to prove that a couple of select journalists didn’t go on a pure junket last week.

We were invited by Ford Group Philippines and the destination was Bangkok, Thailand. Our very gracious host was Steven Tan, its present top marketing man.

The pleasant trip, a welcome breaker from my daily grind of producing three weekly TV shows, writing two columns, heading a production house and a real estate brokerage firm, going to the shooting range to try out some new firearms, playing badminton at least three times a week and going to the gym the same number of times, etc., etc., was mostly focused on driving, riding, eating and getting to know more about the vehicle being introduced and of equal importance, getting to know more about the relatively new marketing top honcho of Ford Philippines.

We drove the lengths of western Thailand enjoying the up-country scenery while bringing us to the Kanchanaburi Province. This is where the very friendly Thais cleverly sell the tourist attraction known as the Bridge on the River Kwai. Of course many of those who have seen the movie, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” would remember that the bridge was totally blown up and that WWII history tells us that the said bridge in the movie was somewhere in Burma. But I was afraid to ask for a clarification apprehensive of getting an answer like, “Movie? What movie? Was there such a movie? And who said this is the bridge in any movie?” So, I decided to just shut my trap and enjoy the scenery.

In between driving or riding there was a lot of eating. And the main fare was delicious Thai food. Although most of the journalists heaved a sigh of relief when Steven announced that on the last night we could have something else of our choice for dinner. No offense meant to our good neighbors, Thai food is great but even true-blooded Pinoys wouldn’t want to have adobo very day of their lives.

Aside from driving mostly on the well-paved Thai highways (approximately a total of easily more than 300 kilometers), we were also given the chance to test drive on other road surfaces when we were brought to a huge hacienda, Park N’Ranch. If I go any further, it would be a dead give away as to the kind of vehicle we were test driving.

I guess I’ll be more specific about the vehicle in my future columns when the product is finally officially launched in the country and the news embargo about it is finally lifted.

But until that time we can only say thank you to Ford Group Philippines for having us and to Steven Tan for his graciousness.

Refreshing trips to the countryside aboard the Alterra

Although many optimists still maintain that despite the gloomy worldwide financial meltdown that most developed countries presently find themselves in the midst of may not be that defined in our country, challenging times are still up ahead. And what better way to neutralize the stress that’s borne out of challenging times than regular leisurely and comfortable drives outside the city or to the countryside?

Now, according to Isuzu, the “world’s diesel authority” the best vehicle to make such restful trips possible is the 2009 Isuzu Alterra.

To demonstrate to the motoring media the calming effects of countryside road trips, Isuzu Philippines Corporation organized a campaign called “Great Drive, Great Life”. They brought three groups of journalists on separate trips outside Metro Manila using the 2009 Alterra. First batch drove to the Splendido Taal Residential Golf and Country Club in Laurel, Batangas, on February 12. The media group also passed by Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay on their way back to the metropolis. A second batch cruised to Tagaytay Highlands on February 19, and a third one will on the 26th.

“With these out-of-town trips, we want to show Filipinos living in the city that they need not go very far to take a break from their very busy schedule and maintain a stress-free life,” says IPC President Keiji Takeda. “Also, we want to show that the role that a vehicle plays in helping achieve this goal is very crucial. Anyone can go out of town, but if they don’t bring with them a comfortable, entertaining and spacious ride, the concept of escaping the city will be difficult to achieve. Because a poor vehicle performance and features-wise will only feel just as stressful as the urban environment they’re trying to get away from.”

Hey, it’s more than what we reported

Our good friend from Mitsubishi Motors Philippines (MMPC), Arlan Reyes was alert enough to see some discrepancy in what we wrote here the last time regarding the amazing come back of MMP in industry sales performance.

I mentioned that their increase was registered at 4.5 percent, which actually was the industry’s total. The actual remarkable increase of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines was a whooping 16.9 percent.

Sorry for the slip, guys – to err is human, to some it’s fine.

Congratulations and keep the Montero Sport rolling out.

DOTC launches Road Safety Awareness Program

The government has finally reacted to the grim prospect that road accidents shall rank as the 3rd in the leading causes of deaths by the year 2020.

In response to the growing alarming figures, the DOTC has mandated itself this year 2009 to focus more on the safety and security in the transportation sector – it’s about time and long time coming.

Well, don’t hold your breath now because the safety and security campaign is more on the “awareness stage” by way of a contest. But to established clearly, we are not at all belittling the efforts of the DOTC, (although we strongly feel that more strong-willed measures should have been adopted a long time ago) on the contrary we laud this step and hope it starts more concerted efforts toward the same goal of keeping our roads safe and secure for the populace.

The participation of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) in the promotion of the new advocacy adopted by the DOTC demonstrates the new awareness to the responsibility of all stakeholders (the entire society) to be involved.

We at the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) are happy to find ourselves no longer in a lonely group together with active stakeholders AAP, Toyota, Goodyear, Ford that have established a pro-active stance to promote the advocacy to teach our youth to be safe and responsible road users.

Let’s keep the fire burning, guys.

Happy Motoring!!!

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