A Bumpy Start

Trouble started at 9 am Sunday night, when the car rental company sent us an SMS that we won't be getting the Vios until Tuesday, or 10 am on Monday. Would we mind if they gave us a 1.6 Altis instead? We just shrugged it off and decided to go back to Manila after Punta Fuego.

When we got the car, we discovered that it had a computer-printed plate number on laminated bond paper as license plates, but it had LTO stickers. We decided that, oh well, this is the Philippines, after all.

We settled all our accounts at the flat at around 11 am. With the Philippine road map we had bought two days ago at National bookstore and a Philippine guidebook, we went to my parents to pick up more stuff for the trip.

When we got to St. Andrew's Church along Quirino Avenue IN Parañaque, five blocks from my house, a lady traffic cop stopped us and motioned us t park. We couldn't park because we were in the middle of two intersections in front of a market, and jeeps were right behind us. As we were looking for a place to stop, the lady cop went all C.H.i.P.S on us and gave chase with her motorcycle, blocking our path.

"Okay, be calm, just smile. They just want a bribe from us," said Thomas. They didn't see that Thomas was foreign since the windows were one-way mirrors.

When the windows rolled down, a woman with yellowed teeth started cursing us in Tagalog.

"P***INa nyo tatakbuhan niyo pa ako! Bakit hindi kayo tumigil? Bawal yun pllaka ninyo!"

I answered her in English so Thomas could understand what was going on, when she cut me off and said "Ikaw ha, Ini-English nyo pa ako, dun kayo sa prisinto magpaliwanag!"

I was so agitated, I refused to leave the car. I explained to them that this was a rent-a-car hire, and we had no power over the plates.

I was shocked. Right in my hometown, I encounter a corrupt cop! Oh well better here than in the province. Agitated, I called my mother and my granduncle, who promised to bring us one of his cop friends. My mother sent us an SMS of all the connections she knew, from the Parañaque congressman to Gen. Sacramento. A few minutes later, my granduncle came with his friend in tow. We called the rent-a-car service to explain what was going on. Turns out, the owner was driving the Vios after picking it up from the last customer. He got to Parañaque in 30 minutes, and was sent to a room.

We later learned that the cops hassled 1,500 pesos from him. When he turned over the Vios, he gave us strict instructions to tell policemen that the car belongs to "my cousin" whenever we are stopped; apparently rent-a-car owners are charged much.

My parents were also in a bind; the Mercedes van they borrowed was in bad shape, and had to stop every 15 minutes because of engine overheat. They left at 9 am and arrived at 3 pm.

We had a map that showed us a shorter road to Punta Fuego via Maragondon; so we decided to take that road. It lead to a dead end called Caylabne resort. So we had to drive back, and fueled up. The attendant explained that our map was wrong! The coastal road in the map didn't exist! The auxilliary road was apparently infested by NPAs, so our only choice was to turn back via Tagaytay, 30 minutes away.

We reached Punta Fuego at 6 30 p.m., to find my parents at the gate. Apparently, Terrazas de Punta Fuego closed at 6, so we had to go to the peninsula de Punta Fuego 5 kilometers down the road, where the hotel was...