Riding on Metro Manila's toll freeways!

Subic Freeport: One thing about big bikers, who always go on long rides, we always get to see things that few people even know exist. For instance, passing through the island of Mindoro was unthinkable in the old days as it is truly way off the usual route that we used to take to go to Luzon, which means passing through the now broken Pan Philippine Highway that starts from Aparri in Luzon down to Davao City via Samar and Leyte.

The route that we just took is a new alternative route called the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH) because of the new Roll-on, Roll-off link from the town Roxas, Mindoro to Caticlan in Aklan, which is only a three-hour trip. This new route opens domestic tourism not just in the island of Mindoro, which already has its own tourism destination in Puerto Galera, but it links Panay closer to Luzon via the Mindoro route.

When we got to the Port of Calapan, which is only 126 km from Roxas (like traveling from Cebu City to Santander, with light traffic) we were surprised to learn that there were many ferry boats that served this route and a host of Roll-on, Roll-off ferries that brings vehicles back and forth. They have a vessel leaving and arriving in Calapan Port every hour, even into the evening.

Mindoro is an interesting two-hour hop to Batangas. I saw playful dolphins jumping over the water beside our ferryboat. We arrived in Batangas early in the evening. Surprisingly, Batangas Port already achieved a certain sophistication in handling passenger traffic.

Perhaps due to the volume of passengers that use this route, they now use two-level walkways, looking much like our skywalks, but goes all the way to the pier beside the ferryboats, which can then disgorge passengers from two decks simultaneously. Our Cebu Port Authority (CPA) officials should visit the Batangas Port and learn new tricks in the handling of departing and arriving passengers. The Port of Batangas looked more like an airline terminal rather than a ship terminal.

One thing that did not escape my attention is what looked like a control tower. This is what the Port of Cebu direly needs. If air traffic controllers are needed to assure safety in the skies, the same is also true for traffic of ships on our ports. Let's hope we'll see one here in our lifetime!

Batangas is a very progressive city; after all, many international vessels unload their cargoes in their port. If you ordered a Toyota Fortuner, we saw around 50 of them just off loaded in the port, waiting to be sent to dealers.

Batangas is now a mere two-hour ride to Metro Manila via a new toll way starting in Lipa City, where a new freeway would bring you to the Sto. Tomas exit, which of course, motorcycles have to pay P23 to use. Then we go to another exit and entered the North Expressway where tolls for motorcycles are P75. If not for the heavy traffic as we entered another expressway which parallels the EDSA Highway dubbed C-5, it was a mere two-hour drive to Libis in Pasig where we dropped by the BMW dealership to check our bikes.

After lunch, we took the new C-5 out to the Balintawak exchange in the North Luzon Expressway to the San Fernando exit, another two-hour run averaging speeds of 120 kilometers per hour. If there is anything that 99% of Cebuano drivers have yet to learn, it is driving in a real freeway, because the driving techniques are totally different. For instance, changing lanes without giving a signal light would mean a traffic ticket. But the reason why most Cebuano drivers don't know how to drive in a freeway is because we don't have one; and that goes for the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao as well!

Metro Manila is eons ahead of the rest of the country in terms of infrastructure where they have skyways, toll ways, overpasses or underpasses, while the rest of the country has nothing to show. Yet, all taxpayers in this country pay for this infrastructure that only the people in Luzon can use.

We got into Subic Freeport after an exhausting ride (the sun was so hot, you'd sweat like you're in a sauna!) which is 80% via a toll way or freeway. This ride took us the whole day, but what was unbearable for motorcycles was the bad traffic in Metro Manila. Just think, you're stuck in traffic beside a huge passenger bus whose exhaust fumes are blowing into your face! This happened to us a lot of times!

Metro Manila has the best and smoothest roads in this country, but its downside is its snarled traffic. As we were headed north to Vigan our final destination, the ride became more pleasant as we pass through quaint little towns. I thought I'd be writing about Baguio today, but I miscalculated my dates. The total day's mileage from Batangas City to Subic Freeport was 255 kilometers, a full day's ride.

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