There is a ridiculous proposal to reduce the toll on the South Luzon Expressway or SLEx by 50 percent because of heavy traffic. Motorists who have to endure the never-ending construction on the road complain that the present ?express? way is as swift as a parking lot in a crowded downtown mall. But one wonders where all these short-sighted proposals are coming from. If you reduce the toll, then the roads will not be fixed and then we are in for even longer delays.
Our memories are so short that nobody seems to remember when the North Luzon Expressway or NLEx was deemed paid for and toll was not collected. The roads deteriorated very fast. Then a new group took over and gave us world-class roads and service, but motorists complained about the increase in toll fees when they could very well have taken the old MacArthur Highway for free if they wished. We are such a hard lot to please, and this always makes me wonder why some people even aspire for public office.
To keep from cursing on the road, I took to praying the rosary while driving. It was a wonderful but short-lived exercise because it didn?t seem appropriate to pray on the road. Besides I am always distracted in traffic, watching people excavating their nostrils as they wait for the vehicles ahead of them to move a bit.
I appreciated our roads and expressways as I read through the travel itineraries and suggestions of John Foreman in the second, revised and enlarged edition of his book ?The Philippine Islands: A political, geographical, ethnographical, social and commercial history of the Philippine Archipelago and its political dependencies embracing the whole period of Spanish rule.? Originally published in London in 1899, it describes the Philippines between three flags, from the yellow and red of Spain to our own red, white, blue, and yellow, and eventually the Stars and Stripes of the United States of America.
Foreman wrote a lot about his travels around the country, noting everything he saw and experienced. In chapter 25, he provided a number of itineraries for various trips around the country, detailing the mode of transport, estimated time of travel between two points, and notes on what to see or do. A three day trip around Manila meant traveling by carriage from Manila to Mariquina, which had a scenery that was worth the trip and water excellent for bathing. There was a lot of pure milk to be had along the way.
Foreman wrote that Marikina used to be a Jesuit vicarage called Jesus de la Peńa. From there one traveled to San Mateo and on to Montalban by carromata and then took a banca three hours up the river to fine scenery. At the end was opportunity for deer shooting. He advised a visit to the famous grotto known as La Cueva and, of course, you had to see the marble boulders as you rode over the highlands.
From Montalban to Novaliches, you traveled on a pony, then transferred to a carromata from Novaliches to San Francisco del Monte and back to Manila.
Time and distances seem the same then as now. The trip from Manila to Pasig took one and a half hours by steamer on the Pasig River during weekdays. It probably takes the same time by Metroferry today, and longer if you travel by land during rush hour.
Manila to Guagua, Pampanga, can be done in an hour by land on the NLEx and the good diversion road that avoids all those crowded little towns, like San Fernando and Bacolor. In Foreman?s time, you traveled to Guagua from Manila by steamer, which took six hours. Guagua today gets easily flooded, its once great ports now silted over and its esteros built over with no regard to the natural ebb and flow of the river.
Dagupan was described as ?a very dreary, uninteresting place.? From there to Manila, the distance was 216 miles and travel took about 27 hours by steamer! The round trip from Manila to Mariveles steam launch took 36 hours.
If you go through Foreman?s travel guide, you will appreciate the transportation we have today.
Foreman described the people of Luzon as generally affable and hospitable. Those from Negros and Iloilo were less courteous, while those from Cebu were docile and obliging. His travel tips included taking canned goods and the advice that if you found good bread along the way, you should always take some extra supply on the journey because some places did not have bread or bakeries. He said the best bread outside Manila could be found in Lipa, Batangas.
Then as now luggage had to be limited. One didn?t need an aneroid thermometer but a compass was always useful. While riding on a pony in the sun, he said it was best to wear a towel around the neck like a scarf. He also advised travelers to hire and take a servant along??Ilocos boys are the best?Visaya boys are the worst.?
In the frontispiece to his book Foreman wears a white cotton coat and pants, riding boots and a hat, and holds a whip. Crouched in front of Foreman is his traveling servant, barefoot and clad only in his folded white shorts.
Now that we can travel in air-conditioned buses all over the country through roads and ro-ro, I look back at adventurous souls like Foreman who came to our shores and wrote about their experiences, leaving us with a guide book that is now a historical source for the Philippines a century ago. My next project will be to compare and contrast travelers? accounts of the Philippines with Filipino travel accounts of Europe and the United States.
Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu
