Day Six: Honesty in Bacolod; smiles along Panay hi-ways

We were now moving to a silent tune, our body

clocks synchronized. No one needed a wake-up

call or a reminder.

One by one, we found our way to the coffee shop

early in the morning. Incidentally, we all ordered the

same Filipino meal for breakfast. Each of us left

separately after the meal. A few minutes later,

exactly ten minutes before our scheduled time to

leave L’ Fisher Hotel, we all met at the lobby.

We lingered a while to thank the front desk staff for

their efficiency in locating a cellphone which Aris left

in a cab the night before. The hotel guard had

recorded the taxi which brought Aris and Anjo back to

the hotel. A staff member called the taxi operator and

the guard there acknowledged that a driver had

reported a cell phone which he found in his cab. (We

didn’t get the cellphone right away because we left

early that morning. L’ Fisher mailed it to us at the

Manila Bulletin.)

The Sea Angels ferry operated by Negros Navigation,

similar to the one we took from Cebu to Dumaguete, left the Banago wharf in Bacolod

at 8:30 a.m. Unlike in Cebu, the pre-departure area was bursting with people, the

aircon did not seem to make a difference. Apparently, such pre-departure traffic is

expected because there were piles of white plastic chairs. Porters and a few

passengers, like us, distributed the chairs outside the room.

The ferry crossed Guimaras Strait in an hour. Although Bacolod is in Negros Island and

Iloilo City is in Panay Island, natives speak the same sing-song dialect known as

Ilonggo.

Still trusting the honesty of locals because of the located lost cellphone story in

Bacolod City, we boarded the first taxi we saw at the pier. It was a white Kia Pride

which not only had no meter, it had no plate number! The taxi driver took us to the

Toyota Iloilo showroom in Jaro about 10 kilometers from pier. He charged us P150 and

when we complained, he said we did not ask before we boarded. We resolved to be

more careful in this part of the country.

Toyota Iloilo had fetched the Revo from the pier when it arrived in Iloilo City Sunday.

To our disapointment, the staff had washed the Revo because it was too dirty. We

should have told them that for pictorial purposes, the Revo was supposed to look

“well-traveled.”

The Revo was not anything new in Iloilo. According to Remy Peña, vehicle sales

department chief, the Revo accounts for at least 50 percent of their monthly sales.

The most popular variant there is the GLx diesel.

The Iloilo dealership, a sister company of the Cebu dealership, has a large showroom

that can feature seven to eight cars at a time. Its operation include a rather wide

area, servicing the whole Panay Island and neighboring Negros Island.

We were on Km 1,165.2. We filled our tanks at a Caltex Station in Leganes town. In

front of the station is a market where the gas attendant claims they serve very good

Batchoy, a local delicacy much like the Bulalo in Batangas and the Beef Mami in

Manila.

The Batchoy cost only P15 per bowl. Anjo was ordering his second bowl even before I

could get to the noodles. To complete our meal, we bought a whole bag of hamburger

buns displayed at the cashier’s table.

Almost choking with the heat, we drove out of Leganes at 11:40 a.m., following the

well-paved highway. We were directed to take a route other than the red-lined main

highway which was shown in the roadmap of the Philippines. This route is shown in

the Travel Atlas, a compilation of the EZ maps sold separately in gas stations and

bookstores.

We followed this route, passing Zarraga, Dingle and then to Passi. We rejoined the

major highway in Cuartero, Capiz. We passed Sigma town and continued to drive

towards the Capiz-Aklan province boundary. We crossed the boundary 1:30 p.m.

At 2:09 p.m. after a bout of some bad roads, mostly as you leave one province and

enter the next, we were on Km 1,331 and were entering Kalibo, Aklan, 70 kms. from

Caticlan, the town where tourists take a banca ride to Boracay.

I took the wheel from Anjo at the Kalibo junction. From there, the well-paved highway

winding through the mountains with a panorama of the sea and the palm trees below

made it a pleasant drive. Despite remarks from Aris, I refused to give the wheel to

anyone.

By three, we were in Caticlan. There are guarded parking areas where you can leave

your vehicles while you are in the island. They charge about P30 a day.

Caticlan’s coastline is alive with tourists waiting to go to Boracay or coming from the

island. The banca ride costs P17 per passenger. You can charter a banca (P300) just

so you don’t wait for the next trip.

If you don’t want to get your feet wet, there are men who will take you up the boat,

piggy back style.

The banca ride takes about 20 to 30 minutes. It will pass by three boat stations in

Boracay Island. The banca operator will advise you where to go down, depending on

the location of your hotel.

(Reprinted from Cruising magazine’s 1st anniversary issue, June 2000)