The ActiveTalker

I commute daily going to work (my wife drives me to work when I’m running late). I noticed (well, it’s an OBVIOUS thing) that some of jeepneys plying Cavite’s roads are colorum. These are illegally operating public utility vehicles, either out of line or a vehicle registered in the Land Transportation Office for PRIVATE use (some even has a “NOT FOR HIRE” sticker on the sides of the jeepney.

What are the benefits of riding in a duly registered public utility jeep (PUJ)? First, your trip will be an uninterrupted one if in case there are operations apprehending colorum jeeps.
Just the other day, I was with my co-faculty when the driver returned our fare and asked us to transfer to another jeepney and because there was a checkpoint for colorum vehicles manned by police and LTO officers.
And second, in case of a mishap you will be covered by the insurance for passengers. The LTFRB requires all operators to have their PUJs to have this. Examples are Philippine Accident Managers Inc. or PAMI and UniTrans.

There was an operation against colorum jeepneys in Cavite I saw, but it was way back in May 2006. I hope the local authorities (and National Government) do something about this. I feel pity for the operators who pays all the requirement to operate their PUJ legally while the illegal ones ply the streets freely. Another thing I noticed is that on “good” days, only 4 out of 10 PUJs I see are colorum, but on “bad” days, it’s around 6 out of 10. Most of the jeepneys in Tagaytay/Mendez-Indang terminal in front of the Indang Police Station and the Trece/Dasma-Indang terminal in front of the Indang Municipal are mostly colorum (according my observation and from a driver I talked to).

This is an example of a “legit” PUJ:

Let us help support the operators and drivers of legal PUJs by not riding the illegal ones.

So, here I am inside a jeepney and on my way to work and I thought of sharing this to you.

Everyday, I ride a jeepney to go to work. I get to experience a lot of things every 20 minutes inside the jeepney. Even when waiting for a ride, I am already exposed to a lot of things.

Let me begin a day’s journey in the street corner where I wait for a ride. Nowadays, the National and Local Elections just loom around the corner and politicians(and wannabe politicians), particularly at the local level, hires a lot of guys who drive around town in a vehicle with loud speakers. It can be very annoying sometimes, particularly the ones who use what they call “trompa” or speakers shaped like a trumpet. Some even play jingles that can really annoy you. Posters are eyesores, jingles are earsores(is there such a term as an earsore?).

At last, here comes the jeepney! Now, I can go to work in peace. But most of the time, the ride is not peaceful.

Sometimes, I would have to endure the old “manangs” talking loudly in their native dialect. I even had an experience wherein there was a girl(who looked like a boy clad in jejemon outfit) who was fast asleep. Her head kept on tossing sideways annoying other passengers beside her. I could tell if she’s drunk as I have anosmia(I lost my olfactory sensitivity).

Most of the time, the jeepney’s inner part, the seats behind the driver are vacant, but some passengers insist on sitting beside the door, or “estribo” as we call it in Filipino. As a result, all the other passengers on that side will have to adjust to let the passenger sit.

Those are just some of my everyday experiences on my way to work.