Dateline: Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, Philippines
When I used to be driven around by my wife’s family driver, before leaving the driveway, I would see him make a sign of the cross and then rub the head of some saint on the car dash while mumbling a prayer. I nearly surrendered my atheism while going through my first driving experience on the streets of Metro Manila. Utterances of “holy” was only matched by another four-letter word and sometimes expressed in the vernacular.
The current data lists Manila as having the worst traffic crunch among the 6 Southeast Asian capital and 8th among the world’s worst. In 2020, Manila ranked 2nd worst in the world ( after Moscow ) based on 416 cities in 57 countries. We are spending 53% more travel time stuck in traffic. ( source: TomTom Traffic Index ) But this data needs to explain the rigours of local driving. It only measures traffic delays due to congestion ( like losing 98 hours stuck in traffic annually). The narrative below is a first-hand experience of why I and many others think metro Manila ranks first as the world’s worst.
PARKING NEUROSIS
Trying to fit the needs of a car into an existing infrastructure is, as we would say in Newfoundland, “like squeezing blood from a turnip .” Traditional mom-and-pop businesses have always been serviced by public transport ( i.e. jeepneys); no amount of changes would satisfactorily provide enough parking for today’s clientele. Not as long as they continue to increase on the edges of both sides of major avenues. Occasionally, a vacant lot becomes temporary parking for patrons some distance away.
When the big guys like McDonald’s and KFC join these already congested locations, parking defies accepted norms. I have seen a KFC with six parking spaces or a Tim Horton’s with 4 ( while still sharing it with other businesses in the same building ). Some have converted a deep front space into a back-to-back parking arrangement but be prepared to suspend your “dim-sum” when the guard calls you to move your car so the car ahead can move out. ( you get to do the same after your meal and so on after his meal ) When all else fails, there is always the usual “blink-blink” of the emergency lights while parked on the curb. When we want to enjoy a hassle-free evening ( in Makati, for instance ), we hire a driver primarily to find parking and call him when ready to leave.
You cannot drive a stretch of a major avenue without giving way to somebody backing out into the street. But, of course, that would require a parking attendant, typically a security guard doing double duty or an “istambay” using his idle time to collect some change. With them, you may be able to avoid being hit from both lanes. It’s a rarity for an oncoming driver to stop to let you out voluntarily. On a Saturday night in front of a good restaurant, judging from the paper currency guards are getting; they can raise serious cash by night’s end.
TWO-WHEELED MAYHEM AND THE MEDIEVAL JEEPNEY
Motorcycles used to be synonymous with a “hagad” or motorcycle cops and the Italian “Vespa” scooters. Then, there were recreational Hondas and Harleys around, but today, motorcycles have taken over the jeepneys as the dominant poor man’s transit on secondary roads and even on major thoroughfares. The proliferation of motorcycles and the lawlessness of how they operate ( zipping in and out of traffic, using sidewalks, texting, and helmetless are some that I have seen ) can find you in the swearing mood.
Practically all food deliveries are done with this medium, and now the government has sanctioned the so-called “habal, habal.” A motorcycle that takes passenger(s) legally for a fee. Overloaded tricycles and jeepneys are commonplace, especially in the provinces where there is a lack of public transport. The venerable tricycle has taken different configurations to take as many as ten passengers. The one I have seen in Iloilo looks like a Chinese gig in a circus with passengers in the front of the operator, two at the back and seven hanging on every available appendage outside the roof and the cab. It’s frightening to see overloaded conveyances converging with cars, minibuses, trucks, and pedestrians darting in and out of traffic.
Anybody who has used a jeepney is awed by two things: one, their unquestioned skill in the job that they do. Think about it, besides driving a standard shift, hustling as many as 20 passengers, taking the fare and giving change while constantly on the lookout for traffic cops and pedestrians. Two: to maximize earnings, they continually chase and unload passengers; it matters not where they happen to be. They have developed a tolerance for swearing and catcalls as they load and unload in the middle of the road. Or they could be holding traffic while buying a cigarette and getting it lit, damming all the cars behind. One that continues to amaze are those jeepneys whose windshield is covered with so many stickers, taped music, route stops signs, all kinds of ornaments dangling from the rearview mirror, plus hood ornaments that leaves nothing but a four or five-inch, unobstructed view of the road. And playing loud music leaves nothing in their senses to worry about congestion.
STOP SIGNS AND OTHER ROAD HAZARDS
You would think that every few meters, there would be some serious accident, but I have not witnessed any thus far. In a situation like this, one develops a 6th sense, a supersensitivity to the vehicles around, ever ready to forge ahead or hold back outside the ordinary course of driving. The rules of the road outside of traffic lights ( even a red-yellow-green signal are mere “suggestion” when there is no opposing traffic ) is “survival of the boldest,” or you are first if you can browbeat ahead of the other heading to the same spot, regardless of who has the right of way. It is rampant on four-way stops or in a roundabout where yield means another driver has intimidated you. On four or two-way stops, you only slow down, if that. Yield signs are insufficient; a sign says YIELD “to the driver in the rotunda.” Still, some would race straight ahead if the driver inside the circle is too slow. Most intersections do not have any stop signs; where there are, it is emphasized by the word “Full” Stop.
One persistent question is why drivers behave outside the rule-based norm. One credible theory is that many cars are not owner driven but instead driven by “professional” drivers ( e.g. former jeepney or bus drivers ) with no other experience outside of the traditional model and whose mind has been conditioned in a relentless pursuit of passengers. It’s common to see three lines of vehicles heading into a single lane on a left turn; so aggravating when you are cut off by vehicles on your left and right. ( then the two bozos duel it out onto the single lane! ). What amazes me is that there is not much road rage at all. Motorists here are a fairly tolerant lot.
There is little or no enforcement; the more common enforcers are movable red pylons, deployed wherever a vehicle needs to be directed or to emphasize street lines. In left turn lanes, a pylon is often insufficient; instead, a weighted water-filled or concrete divider sits on the line. Lines alone don’t mean squat!
It’s good to see bicycle lanes, except that it’s never exclusive to a bike. If your car fits, it’s yours. Then, of course, the ubiquitous humps. They are on both sides of an intersection and in a straightaway every 50 meters or less. It’s an effective measure to slow down vehicles but also terrible for mileage.
Road hazards abound; slow-moving tricycles on the left side of a fast lane just enough to squeeze a car are a potential accident waiting to happen. Reports of open utility holes with nothing more than a twig to mark them still make occasional news, a far cry from the past when there was a big market for recyclable steel. One genuinely frightening highway hazards are heavy concrete dividers with gaps between them. Some roadways use these as barriers for closed paths but only give enough warning signs before it’s too late. As a result, unfamiliar drivers on unlit highways have found themselves in a life-and-death situation when hitting these barriers at highway speeds.
One hazard that I face every day I am on the road is pedestrians. Marked crossings only mean a little unless a large group asserts themselves and forcibly raises their hands to signal the driver(s) to stop. Those who can find themselves in big trouble cross at night between gaps in a tall bushy median, bypassing elevated crosswalks.
Another significant difference with traffic infrastructure is the number of unofficial streets outside “official” roads. I recall one that snakes between rows of tombs in a cemetery, a sort of an accepted shortcut to get to your destination quickly, but when all the rest finds out, there isn’t much of an advantage anymore. Another way of cutting travel time involves a passage permit (“stickers”) through a gated village. For instance, to travel from our gated village to another, bypassing service roads and public thoroughfares, I have to have at least four stickers stuck to my windshield to signify to the guards that I have permission to make use of the village’s entire roadways. It is common for cars ( older ones especially ) to have stickers covering a substantial part of the windshield. ( stickers are not free; you apply for them upon endorsement of a village resident. There is an annual fee involved )
PROGRESS AT LAST?
There have been several measures to ease congestion of late; this may have been why we are ONLY now ranked 8th worst. The pandemic also changed the driving dynamics in major urban centres, work-at-home being a factor. But there have been significant road widening projects in congested roads ( Tagaytay, for instance ), except that electrical power posts have not been removed on the extra lane in some cases for months. So the extra lane becomes parking or spaces for fruit stalls. ( and oh so very close to vendors on the edges )
Flyovers and other additional roadways, such as circumferential ( beltways ) roads, ease congestion within the city, just as the superhighways and expressways do. ( Nlex, Slex, Cavtex,Calax) Trains and other more efficient public transport and stricter enforcement of traffic rules have been beneficial. Plate number coding has mixed results, i.e. plate numbers codes to certain off days for the car. Not a problem for those who can afford it. Just drive inside any gated village and look at the number of vehicles in the driveways and roadways. The 2-car garage of yore is passe’—more like 3, 4 or more and mostly parked on the street. Car dealers are singing all the way to the bank.
The no contact apprehension policy (NCAP), which utilizes CCTV cameras to monitor traffic infractions, made a huge difference. Fines and penalties are imposed and collected pending vehicle registration. Fines that range from PhP 2000 to 5000 cause severe hardship to PUVs because of extreme delay ( months ) in informing the vehicle owner. Interest accrued on unpaid fines makes the already high fines unaffordable.
Despite all the unconventional driving challenges and the initial dread of hitting the road unprepared and feeling vulnerable, I was surprised that I not only got through the hurdles but became adept at them, feeling and driving like the locals. But it would help if you let go of the usual courtesies we do in Canada because you will be left behind. I have noticed this year that drivers are not using their horns as much as they used to and are using turn signals more—all signs of driving progress. About time!
