Category Archives: Travel

Baguio City Taxi Drivers: “We’re Being Robbed By Our Passengers!”

February 9, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – In most cities in the Philippines, taxi riders complain about drivers “robbing” them of hard-earned money, either by tampering with the fare meter or taking the long and winding road to the passengers’ destination.

Not in Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines, which celebrates a huge cultural festival this entire month of February, the Panagbenga. The annual flower festival is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to this city which boasts of San Francisco-like weather.

It is the other way around: passengers robbing taxi drivers, with the full blessing of the government’s transportation agency!

It would have been a huge opportunity for taxi drivers to earn more income, except for one thing. They’re actually losing 5 pesos each time they take on passengers.

Plastered on the windshield of all Baguio City taxis is a sign that says, “Taxi Fare, less 5 pesos.” So if your final fare as per the taxi meter is 100 pesos, you actually will only pay 95 pesos.

There is a logical and legal explanation to all this, but it is of little concern to the taxi-riding public. What’s important is the 5-peso saving each time someone rides a cab. After 20 taxi rides, you’ll have enough money to buy you a Starbucks espresso!

Government, Politics, Travel

If Elected President, Rodrigo Duterte Will Commute Daily Between Manila And His Hometown Of Davao City

January 30, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – It’s a one hour and forty five-minute flight from Manila to Davao City. Manila is where the Philippine presidential palace is located, and Davao is where presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte lives.

Duterte likes to sleep in his own bed, so if he is elected president in the May elections, the Davao City mayor says he plans to go home to Davao City every day. He has no plans of staying in Malacanang, the presidential palace.

Now, before you say that Duterte’s plan is a crazy idea, think again.

With Metro Manila’s daily traffic gridlock, it can take up to four hours to commute from one part of the metropolis to another. So a daily commute from Manila to Davao doesn’t sound so bad.

Duterte added that his daily commute will not cost the government a single centavo. He says he would borrow the private jet of his friend, Davao religious leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, to spare the government the expected expense.

That’s assuming, of course, that the pastor will also pay for the fuel, and that the jet has room for the presidential security.

International, Travel

Manila’s NAIA Wants To Regain Its Title As World’s Worst Airport

January 30, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – From 2011 to 2013, Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) topped the list of the world’s worst airports as compiled by an international travel website. Now, NAIA is desperate to regain that title and is doing all it can to make it happen.

Late last year, NAIA made headlines because of laglag bala (bullet drop), a scheme in which unscrupulous airport personnel plant live bullets into the luggage and bags of unsuspecting passengers for the purpose of extorting money.

The latest scheme, as reported by The Inquirer, is called laglag kisame (ceiling drop) in which portions of the airport’s passenger terminal ceiling collapse without warning.

The latest incident involved the collapse of a portion of the ceiling of a restaurant inside Terminal 3, causing injury to an American passenger, Day Adam Warner.

Similar mishaps happened inTerminal 2 in December 2012, where a Hong Kong-bound passenger was injured; and inTerminal 1 in February 2014. In addition, many passengers have complained of leaking ceilings, collapsed floors, malfunctioning equipment, congestion, dilapidated facilities, rude or corrupt personnel and several airport taxi scams.

Following the latest incident, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory asking American citizens flying in or out of NAIA to wear protective hard hats to ensure their safety while inside the airport terminal.