MANILA, Philippines - Ah, the Philippine terrain — the breathtaking beauty and the possibility of adventure inspire the bravest among us to conquer heights, distances and challenging terrain.
Recently, a group of four thrill-seekers went on a road trip to conquer the rough passages and mountains up north. Arming their high-end cruisers and adventure bikes with a PLDT FASTrack, PLDT SME-Nation’s GPS-tracking device, the group traveled to a month’s worth of destinations, all in a single weekend.
“Our motorcycles for this adventure were equipped with PLDT FASTrack which sent out our precise GPS locations. So during the times when we’re too exhausted from our trips and too excited in our travels to update, our families were able to track our progress, lessening the worry on their part,” says Teng Sorreta, one of the riders.
Sorreta, Jojo Osorio, Ernest de Jesus, and Daniel Abelarde braved the trails, starting their weekend on a Friday dawn on the North Luzon Expressway.
The group passed the off-road route to Baler, Aurora via Bongabon in Nueva Ecija. Passing off mudslides and a stop in one of the local restaurants in the area, the coastal road to Dinadiawan, Aurora allowed the bikers to pass a majestic view of the Pacific Ocean.
After spending the night over a few rounds of beer, they proceeded to Nagtipunan passing Maddela in Quirino province. This time, the group had to go through a longer off-road trail, finally reaching Cordon in Isabela for a tune-up and gas refill.
“We rode through most of the conditions. Passing rivers and muddy back roads, our bikes were able to take the beating,” recalls Abelarde.
Reaching paved roads, the group trailed up further north to Banaue, overlooking the Banaue Rice Terraces. After resting and appreciating the view, they went through unpaved roads to reach their next destination, Bontoc, and another 14 kilometers of bare muddy trails to finally reach Sagada.
“The course to Sagada was the worst with ‘jack hammer’ of unpaved roads. But the view from the top and the great company was well worth effort,” recounts Abelarde.
Taking snapshots inside Sagada’s caves and hanging coffins, they proceeded to the highest point in the Philippine highway system, the Halsema Highway. From there, the group went on to Baguio, traversing the traffic in Trinidad, Pangasinan, and Tarlac.
FASTrack travel
FASTrack uses a portable, pocket-sized homing device that is wirelessly connected to a GPS (Global Positioning System) network. The network relies on satellite navigation technology to monitor the location of business field assets, providing on-the-road, real-time tracking of delivery personnel and vehicles.
But in the case of the brave four, it tracked their location in the outskirts of the northern Philippine terrain.
“The PLDT FASTrack is specifically designed to help SMEs track their vehicle-carrying goods while in transit. The service’s features and monitoring tools enable business owners to determine the whereabouts of their fleet or vehicles, thus allowing them to extract maximum efficiency and productivity from their employees,” says PLDT SME-Nation vice president and head Kat Luna-Abelarde.
The PLDT FASTrack would be of great benefit to companies that require delivery of goods as part of their operations such as those in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade; security and investigation; and service and utilities.
“The FASTrack provides a managed end-to-end vehicle monitoring solution. It comes with the tracking device and the monitoring software and it runs on the PLDT and Smart network as well. This way, the client won’t be burdened with the hassle of talking to different vendors or providers,” says Amil Azurin, PLDT SME-Nation marketing head.
FASTrack boasts of an advance monitoring system that provides business owners with a rich source of data. Its record-keeping functions tracks service locations, drop-off points, and routes used.
A detailed Graphical Map interface (displayed on a personal computer or laptop) provides details on the whereabouts of field staff and vehicles (or even an entire transport fleet) using an easy-to-understand GPS-surveyed digital map. It can pinpoint the exact location of on-the-road agents up to the secondary street level.
The PLDT FASTrack system can even send updates and alerts to a business owner’s mobile phone on his vehicles’ and personnel’s whereabouts.
For more information on what PLDT SME-Nation offers businesses, call 101-888 or visit www.pldtsme-nation.com.ph.