Dangerous ride

Some years ago when I missed the early morning ferry going back to the Batangas port from Puerto Galera, I took a jeepney across the mountains to the Calapan City port on the eastern side of Mindoro island. I was told that if I took that ride, I could still catch the big ship going back to Manila in the afternoon.

The jeepney drove for about two hours through a narrow, winding mountain road that in the initial phase cut across forested areas. The difficult access makes the mountain ideal as a sanctuary for New People’s Army members, who extort “revolutionary taxes” from property owners in the area.

The ride through the mountains was bumpy. I don’t know if the road, little more than a dirt road in many spots, has been modernized so travelers can enjoy the scenery.

Travel was additionally uncomfortable because the jeepney was packed all the way to the rooftop with passengers and cargo. It’s a miracle that no one and nothing fell from the roof. The chickens were certainly secure in their bamboo cages.

The windshield of the jeepney could be pushed out from the bottom – which the driver did throughout the trip, to allow more breeze in I guess, although the vehicle was a typical jeepney with open upper sides. But the open windshield also let in all the dust and forest insects. 

Along the way passengers disembarked and others quickly took their place, several of them hauling firewood and vegetables and fruits from backyard gardens. No one loaded a pig or goat, but I’m sure the jeepney driver would have allowed it, as long as proper fare was paid.

It was a long, slow, hot, dusty and exhausting ride. I don’t know if foreigners would consider that having fun in the tropics.

I sat in front on the outer side of the two-seat passenger section, so I could see where we were going and be the first to jump in case the creaking jeepney lost its brakes or the driver lost control of the steering wheel. This would have been easy in that terrain; at several spots I worried that the jeep was just inches away from falling off the cliff, or being squashed against the mountainside by larger vehicles coming from the opposite direction. It’s a marvel of Pinoy driving that the sorry excuse for a road could function as a two-lane passage.

I’m not sure if the Mindoro road has been modernized, but such narrow, treacherous passages are still common around the country.

In the Cordilleras, where the scenery is breathtaking, the narrow road is an invitation to disaster. In recent days, at least 22 people have died in two vehicular accidents, one on the road to Bontoc and another in Abra. A bus in Bontoc fell into a deep ravine while a jeepney built for 23 but packed with 52 people fell into a ditch.

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It’s said that in traveling, getting there is half the fun, and perhaps some people consider any form of danger part of having fun. But the typical traveler I’m sure would rather complete the trip with limbs and wits intact.

That road connecting the Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao to Bontoc, capital of Mountain Province, reminds me of Alpine scenery. The spectacular landscape continues all the way to Sagada, where the road from Bontoc has been much improved but is still inadequate if the government wants to stimulate tourism.

A prominent player in the tourism industry sighed that apart from inadequate and dangerous roads, we lack comfortable rides for our travel destinations.

Foreign visitors usually like trying out the Philippine jeepney, which is a popular mode of public transportation from Banaue to Bontoc and Sagada. But the novelty of a garish and lumbering imitation of the World War II Jeep, with radio often blaring, can wear off quickly, and travelers will eventually seek a comfortable ride.

In the lowlands, this usually means an air-conditioned shuttle or bus. Along the narrow mountain passes of the Cordilleras, a bus is not a good idea. Apart from the narrowness of the road, there aren’t enough road railings and warning signs, there’s no electricity so no lights, there’s a constant threat of landslides, and heavy fog can suddenly descend on the valleys and passes.

In the lowlands including popular beach destinations, we lack comfortable, well maintained buses. A prominent player in the tourism industry once tried to bring in double-decker buses, which are best for sightseeing, but red tape scuttled the idea.

So travelers are often stuck with mass transportation, which are usually the type that fall into ravines and ditches due to lack of maintenance and tired, overworked drivers.

The government should start requiring mass transport operators and logistics companies to subject their vehicles to regular maintenance checks.

Scrimping on maintenance and regular replacement of worn-out parts, particularly brakes, has to be one of the biggest causes of fatal road accidents in our country.

Vehicle maintenance is expensive, but if you want to be in the mass transportation business, regular maintenance must be treated as an unavoidable business cost, a part of the investment.

Even logistics operators scrimp. Truck haulers keep breaking down or having tire blowouts, snarling traffic in Metro Manila.

Several years ago, a woman waiting to cross Romualdez street in the city of Manila died after she was struck in the head by a bolt that came loose from the tire rim of a passing truck. When did anyone check that tire rim?

Bus and truck operators are hardly impoverished; surely they can afford to spare some of their profits for regular vehicle maintenance.

Our land transportation is a mess. President Aquino will be meeting with officials of transportation agencies to discuss safety issues, according to reports. He should make sure it produces results. The status quo has been in place since the day he was born and his transport officials are notorious for twiddling their thumbs. Even when buses and jeepneys keep falling off cliffs.