Category Archives: Travel

Government, Technology, Travel

Will New MRT Trains Boost The Philippines’ Mess Transportation?

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New MRT coaches arrive from China
New MRT coaches arrive from China

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – A better Metro Rail Transit (MRT) system in the coming months is guaranteed by the Philippines’ Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to commuters with the arrival of new coaches, CNN reports.

But if you ask the MRT Holdings, Inc. (MRTH), mother company of the MRT Corporation, private owner of the MRT, it wouldn’t recommend taking the new train for safety reasons.

“We feel this is a danger to the riding public. Not to mention a danger to the system itself. It might destroy the MRT system itself, that we own,” MRTH Chairman Robert Sobrepeña said.

Sobrepeña claims that Chinese firm Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co., Ltd., which is supplying the new coaches, has no track record of building a similar train type. “That means this is a guinea pig that we are testing. I wouldn’t ride it. I wouldn’t risk my life on an LRV (light rail vehicle) manufactured by a company that’s never made such an LRV.”

In 2013, President Noynoy Aquino said that if the problems that have consistently plagued the  MRT were not solved by the end of 2015, he and Transportatiom Secretary Joseph Abaya will let themselves be run over by a train. The Filipinos are still waiting for that promise to be fulfilled.

In the meantime, Metro Manila’s mass transportation continues to be a mess.

 

 

International, Travel

Yet Another Scam At Manila’s International Airport: Laglag Piso

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila can never seem to escape the headlines.

Just months after the laglag bala (drop a bullet) scheme was uncovered, a new scam is all but brewing. (Laglag bala was a scheme in which unsuspecting airline passengers were questioned and detained after airport personnel supposedly found live bullets in their bags and luggage — all for the purpose of extorting money).

The new scam is called laglag piso (drop the peso) and it involves what appears to be a collusion between airport security and taxi operators.

Foreigners arriving at NAIA are offered a taxi ride to their hotel or destination and are handed a rate card that quotes the fixed fare in U.S. dollars, instead of Philippine pesos.  The dollar rates are not only illegal, but exhorbitant. What could be a fare of just a few hundred pesos can turn out to be thousands of pesos, in dollar equivalent.

When questioned about the newly-discovered scam, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Joseph Angel Honrado said he has no control over the activities at the airport.  “My role is merely to coordinate.”

It’s exactly what he said when questioned in the Philippine Senate about the laglag bala scheme.

Traveling to Manila?  Drop the peso. Hang on to your U.S. dollar. It will go a long way. Away from your wallet, that is!

 

International, Technology, Travel

Philippines Is First Country To Purchase Human Passenger Drone From China

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imageLAS VEGAS, Nevada (The Adobo Chronicles ) — Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc. has unveiled what it calls the world’s first drone capable of carrying a human passenger, and the Philippines was the first country to place an order for use by President NoyNoy Aquino.

The Guangzhou, China-based company pulled the cloth off the Ehang 184 at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CES gadget show. In a company video showing it flying, it looks like a small helicopter but with four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones.

The electric-powered drone can be fully charged in two hours, carry up to 220 pounds and fly for 23 minutes at sea level, according to Ehang. The cabin fits one person and a small backpack and even has air conditioning and a reading light. With propellers folded up, it’s designed to fit in a single parking spot.

It is designed to fly about 1,000 to 1,650 feet off the ground with a maximum altitude of 11,500 feet and top speed of 63 miles per hour.

After setting a flight plan, passengers only need to give two commands, “take off” and “land,” each controlled by a single click on a Microsoft Surface tablet, the company said.

The traffic in Metro Manila in the Philippines is so bad that even the president cannot  navigate its streets and thoroughfares without being stuck on the road for hours at a time.

“The human drone is perfect for the president so he can go about his daily duties without having to worry about traffic, especially in Metro Manila,” according to a spokesperson for Aquino.

While the spokesperson refused to disclose Aquino’s weight, he assured reporters that the president definitely weighs less than 220 pounds.