Posts Tagged ‘jeepney’

Philippine Jeep

Is jeepney an original Philippine national vehicle? Maybe, for some Pilipinos who does not know of the origin of jeeps or jeepneys in the Philippines.

Transportation in the Philippines

Actually, the jeepneys we see now on the busy streets and highways of the Philippine are just a modern Filipinized (or Philippine touch) version of the old American jeep that has been imported into the Philippines during World War II which was used by the American soldiers to transport them and to fight the Japanese occupation in the Philippines at that time.

The modern day Philippine jeepney is just a derivative one. However, it has evolved into Philippines national vehicle or means of transportation because it is the vehicle in the Philippines mostly ride on when travelling a few kilometers away apart from a bus.

The Philippine jeepneys have many customizable looks and get ups, from a simple deviation from the original American into an excessively accessorized and customize version. And now the latest input to the evolution of Philippine jeepney is the jeepney they called “e-jeep” or electronic jeep.

Electronic jeep or e- jeep as what the inventor call it is run of course by electricity and not by gasoline or diesel which the Philippine passenger jeepneys are fueled of. Thus, the inventor tags his own jeep as an eco-friendly jeep that doesn’t emit harmful gaseous material from its engine.

Philippine Jeepney

Unfortunately, though this is a very good evolution of the Philippines jeep, it is only primarily used for tourist tours, and an especial event like the inaugural of the new vice-president of the Philippines wherein he ride on it.

There are a lot of ways and means of transportation to get around the Philippines. In Manila, there are 3 types of railways. The first one is the Light Rail Transit or commonly known as the LRT, which connects to major cities and municipalities around Metro Manila. The second one is the Metro Rail Transit or MRT, also connecting to various cities and municipalities in Metro Manila.

Nowadays, LRT’s and MRT’s are crowded with passengers everyday. Because it makes the traveling time way shorter than traveling in jeepneys and buses. The railways avoid the daily heavy traffic in Manila.

The third one is the Philippine National Railways or PNR. This has several stations in Manila. It offers daily trips outside Metro Manila. Like in Sorsogon, Davao, Pampanga.

Other public utility vehicles are the taxi, jeepney, mini-bus, tricycles, buses and pedicabs.
Taxis are mainly found in Metro Manila and are metered-operated. You can find jeepneys all over the Philippines, with a standard fare rate of seven pesos. But it also changes depending on how much gasoline is in the world market. Tricycles are only allowed in small roads, mainly inside villages and small districts. Tricycles are motorcycles assembled with a side-car. They can accommodate 4-6 passengers at a time, depending on how big or small they are. Pedicabs are bicycles assembled with a side-car. They are only allowed inside villages and very small roads.  Mini-buses and buses can be found in main in the Philippines.

Some of the major bus companies in the Philippines are Baliwag Transit, The Philippine Rabbit and Victory Liner. The bus fare depends on how many kilometers the destination will be.

The main ports and harbors in the Philippines are: The Manila International Cargo Terminal and Eva Macapagal Port Terminal. They’re both in the pier of Manila. Also frequently used port and harbors are the Batangas Port and the one in Subic.
There are also a lot of local airlines in the Philippines. But the most well-known is The Philippine Airlines which is also the national flag carrier.

The First Class Batangas Philippines

This Province in the Southwestern part of the Philippines is known as the most popular tourist destinations near Manila Philippines and at the Philippines. And why is it so? Of course because of Batangas Philippines famous beaches and resorts and diving spots, like Matabungkay, Anilao, Punta Fuegeo, Calatagan, and other famous tourist spots. Moreover, the famous Taal Volcano was also located at Batangas Philippines where most tourists flock to see the volcano. Taal volcano is the smallest active volcano known in the world and famous for its crater which has a lake in it. Its crater with lake is now called “Crater Lake” which most tourist love to look into. It is a volcano within a lake (Lake Taal) and the volcano itself has also a lake with its crater. Amazing is not it?

However, there are also interesting stuff about Batangas Philippines than its popular beaches and resorts. That is, Batangas Philippines’s famous fan knife or in local dialect “balisong”. Batangas Philippines has been known of this famous product in connection with its urban legend that a “Batangueno”(or local residents of Batangas ) always carry a secret “balisong” in anticipation to defend oneself from any outsiders who would challenge or offend one Batangueno to fight. Thus, there is a scare saying that “don’t mess yourself with a Batangueno” if you love your life. Batangas knife is a folding pocket knife with two handles counter-rotated at the grip of the blade of the knife. The knife can be concealed and surprise revealed when an enemy is attacking you. That’s really quite terrifying if you happen to bull with a Batangueno.

Batangas Philippines is also known for its cattle species, throughout the Philippines the “Batangas Cow” is sought after and almost every Saturday there is an auction.

However, like other region in the Philippines, Batangas in the Philippines has also other products which it can be proud of like pineapples, tuna fish, bangus, tilapia, coconut belt, etc.

Batangas Philippines is also known as the Cradle of Noble Heroes in the Philippine history because of heroes and statemens it produced, like Teodoro Kalaw,Apolinario Mabini,Jose Laurel,Claro M. Recto, and others. There are number of museums also which depicts this historical side of Batangas Philippines like Marcela Marino Agoncillo Museum and Monument which immortalized the contribution of this semi-hero Marcela Agoncillo who sew the first Philippine flag which was raised and wave during the times of Emilio Aguinaldo. This museum is actually an ancestral house of Marcella Agoncillo or where Marcela Agoncillo used to live during her times.Actually, I thought this was called Apolinario Shrine.

So where Batangas Philippines does located? Batangas Philippines is located at the CALABARZON region of Luzon Philippines, confined with the provinces of Cavite and Laguna. If you are from Manila Philippines, Batangas in the Philippines is 110 kilometers away southward through land transportation. Once you get there, you can ride a passenger jeepney or tricycle to go around the province or you can ride boats if you want an island-hopping adventure.