My Worst Jeepney Ride--to date
By Kevin Stoda
"A jeepney" is one of the first things that many foreign travelers recall when reflecting upon his or her trip to the Philippines. I experienced the worst Jeepney trip of my life in mid-July of this year. Before I describe why the trip was most horrible, allow me to explain that since WWII,-- i.e. when the USA military left thousands of jeeps and armored vehicles behind on the sands and roadways of the Philippine Archipelago--, the "jeepney" mode of transport has become a national symbol of the Filipino spirit and way of "making-do".
Some jeepneys are new some are ancient. Some jeepneys travel only in city streets. Others travel the most arduous patches of roadway on the planet. Regardless of their location, thousands (or even millions) of Jeepneys have chugged up and down the highways and hillsides of the country since the Japanese were kicked off the islands in 1945-- and whenthe USA finally gave the Filipinos their independence from American colonization.
Naturally, these mammoth jeeps also tend to break down over time. In addition, one needs to realize that a few run on time, but most run a bit late.
PALAWAN: a JOURNEY to Port Barton
On July 20 of 2012, my family and I prepared to take a public transport to Port Barton from our hotel in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. 
We were planning to spend three or four weeks in beautiful--but isolated--Port Barton in the San Vicentes township near Roxas. Alas, historically, there has been only one vehicle per day to Port Barton from either Puerta Princesa (or from Roxas). Either one particular bus or a single jeepney runs one time per day generally. Moreover, such a vehicle has usually been scheduled to leave by 8am but invariably does not leave the bus terminal in Puerta Princesa till after 9am.
NOTE: Unbeknownst to our household, however, a second bus that travels occasionally to out-o- the-way Roxas township and returns in a round-about way via Port Barton had been instituted a few days a week on Palawan and running from the Puerta Princesa terminal. (Such is the lack of public communication in Palawan)
When my tiny household arrived at the Puerta Princesa Bus and Jeepney Terminal at 6:30am with a mountain of luggage, we discovered to our pleasant surprise a large jeepney parked near the terminal buses heading to points north. This Jeepney was clearly marked "Port Barton to Puerta Princesa to Port Barton".
As is usually the case, this Jeepney had a name. Above the driver's window, were written these two words: "THE NEUTRALIZER". Probably the owner was a wrestling aficionado--or a fan of some comic book hero. Little did I know that "neutralizer" likely means that one should not have too many hopes or expectations about this particular jeepney. That is, the greater hope for arriving on time, the greater this particular vehicle would seek to disillusion or neutralize one's hope.
Officially, the schedule for the Jeepney to Port Barton from the Puerto Princesa terminal is to leave around 8am and to arrive in Port Barton around 1:00pm. Usually, the last 23 kilometers are the most difficult because neither the township of San Vicente (which Port Barton belongs to) nor the island government of district of Palawan have seen fit to complete the road pavement all the way to Port Barton. This means that passangers are constantly bounced up and down on horrendous ruts or even stuck in the mud and asked to push sometimes in rainy season. (July is rainy season.)
I thought I was prepared for the worst that fateful Friday, but too many surprises were yet to come.
THE NEUTRALIZER
Apparently, July 20 was the first day of Ramadan and our driver was Muslim. In fact there were Islamic characters and messages to be seen on the inside of the vehicle, i.e. on the walls and paneling beside the driver of the Jeepney. Likely due to sleep the night before, the driver and several previously booked local passengers had decided together not to try and arrive to the Jeepney till between 9 and 10am that morning. Therefore,, "THE NEUTRALIZER" ended up chugging out of the terminal 3 hours later than scheduled.
Immediately upon exiting the terminal however, "THE NEUTRALIZER's" rear outside tire exploded. After a brief inspection, we slowly drove another full-kilometer to have the tire taken off, repaired and vulcanized. 
This delay took us over an hour before we were back on the road. It was a hot and busy day to be out in the sun--luckily we had found some shade (and an ice cream vender came peddling by) in the meantime.
About two hours later, we arrived at the scheduled restaurant stop for the sleepy jeepney driver. My wife and I had lunch with our daughter before moving on. By this time diapers needed changing. Later, we were back outside as the driver told us to hurry up.
As we reached Roxas township, the inside rear left tire blew.
Again, we were stopped--but this time just within sight of the turn-off to the last and bounciest 23 kilometers one could imagine on a flat tire. Now, instead of taking a chance on a third or fourth flat tire that day, the driver of the jeepney preceded up the road to once again take off another tire to be repaired and vulcanized. Again many of us got off the jeepney and walked about for another hour. Another diaper change was needed by this time. The sun was beating down however, so again we found shade.
Finally, our vehicle was able to slowly proceed up the mountain-way and back down to the seaside village of Port Barton. It had rained heavily the weeks before so the ruts were deep. We came upon one wooden bridge that I was sure would not take the weight of the Jeepney and all of our luggage. Luckily, we passed that test.
Alas, the progress of our journey was stalled by numerous unscheduled stops to load wood, bamboo, and other bags of agricultural products along the way, so that a 23-mile journey, which usually took one full hour due to many roadway obstacles and lack of pavement, took over two hours.
ON TO PORT BARTON
Finally, after carving our way through the hills and valleys, THE NEUTRALIZER proceeded back down the west coast of Palawan and into Port Barton. We bounced and bumped all the ways. My back and neck were hurting.
Sure enough, we had to stop several more times in order to let our agricultural products and some passengers be unloaded. When we arrived in the Port Barton bus terminal near the beach, nonetheless, our journey was still not over. After watching all other luggage being taken off, my wife had once again had to persuade the driver of the jeepney to get back in and head up hill to our relative's house one more time and drop off the 7 bags and boxes of cargo we had brought along.
By now, it was after 4:30 pm. Our journey of 123 kilometers had taken over 10 hours after leaving our hotel room in Puerto Princesa. We were dazed--and did not want to travel anymore any where by Jeepney again.
Note: Just as our jeepney approached the Port Barton terminal around 4pm, the aforementioned Port Barton via Roxas bus with a new routehad passed us honking. That bus, it turns out had left the terminal three hours after our own vehicle--and still beat us to Port Barton after traveling some 60 extra kilometers to Roxas on its journey. Next time, I would certainly take that bus when I returned to Puerta Princesa.
