Driving in the Philippines

Watch out for the color coding. If your tag is prohibited for a certain day of the week....don't drive it...they will get you.
Confiscate your licence on the spot.You will get it back after you pay the fine.....

Munchie wrote:

Watch out for the color coding. If your tag is prohibited for a certain day of the week....don't drive it...they will get you.
Confiscate your licence on the spot.You will get it back after you pay the fine.....

If it is a traffic enforcer you are not required to give him your license...Tell him to call a cop...99 times out of 100 they will tell you its a warning and to drive on...Check Philippine law who can request your license and it is not a traffic enforcer...they only want graf...

I never  saw any situation with a cop that some pecos in his hand does not fix everything.   they just seem to disappear like magic!   When in a corrupt society u forget your prim and proper ways of your country and u  play their game as good or better than they do and u are fine.    I got short changed once in Manila and  for  under 15 USD in pecos the cop let me do anything i wanted to the place till they came up with my money and then some.  My and the cop walked away happy and high fiving. What we cannot do is try to push our native ways of life on people there because it is not how they are.  Most of use foreigners come from countries where we are spoiled and tend to expect this or that be done or things be proper and lawful. Well  as a guest in the Philippines  that stuff isnt going to happen nor should it be pushed on them. Just smile alot and be ready to roll with whatever happens in life.  All the guy i knew that were always complaining  and thought things should be lawful and orderly ended up going back to their countries and rightfully so.
Live Love Laugh Smile , be kind, be positive, and enjoy the Philippines.

It is sad to see so many of the comments here reflective of being part of the problem rather then of the solution.  Don't get me wrong, I am very much a realist. But, paying bribes as a matter of course, just accepting corruption as the norm - that is why the Philippines has many of the issues it has. Since I first came to the Philippines in 1973 I can say I have only paid a bribe twice. It is a choice, of course. But, someday perhaps their will be a cultural change and I want to help make that happen.

You are correct, however until the problem is corrected at the top, it will remain accepted. Having lived here 5 years and enjoying the country as a whole, I am a eyewitness to many of the scams pulled by the ones in charge.

still looking for the philippine traffic laws LTO never heard of them

i drive in Davao City and do not agree about backing into a tight space in a car park. Must easier to drive in and back out when time to go. Many that back in leave dents and scratches in your car and never stay around to tell you.

Filipino cannot drive because there is no real driver's test to get a license, and law enforcement do not issue traffic violations, so they never learn the rules of the road, most would not last in the USA for two days

Do not go to the Police station and ask about  line markings on the hwy as they are unable to help.

Not only are they the WORST!!. The stupid ass motorcycle idiots think they own the road. Totally clueless. I know if I'm driving there I'm going to end up getting out of the car and it won't be pretty. I'll need to control my patience

Yes for sure it will get you taken to jail than deported and blacklisted

I have driven in many countries through the years and yes while things are not good with many drivers in PH. I have suffered far worse in other countries.
Agree with what you said Okieboy or far worse if the offender (poor driver) is carrying.
I drive defensively, far more alert than one needs to be in western countries but seriously maintain curtesy at all times and I do see that reflected with many drivers in PH.
What was that Douglas Adams saying? "Always smile and carry a sunny disposition".
Or the better known "patience is a virtue".
I actually enjoy driving in the Philippines because I know exactly what to expect and I'm never surprised with idiocy, "there's another one".

Cheers, Steve.

There is no rules in Philippines. Everybody drive as they wish.
No one study driving and no rules, cause government can issue Driving license without study at no problem to anyone.
Worse mess I saw only in Vietnam which is more horrible, due to million bikes on the road.

Driving in Big cities has its own headaches, than in provinces like Bohol.
I live in Bohol and when I drive, I have to pay all my attention to motor cycles, tricycles. These 2 are so careless, like motorcycles without rear view mirror, unnecessarily slow on highways, some even texting while riding, staying in the middle of the lane inspite of road widened with additional lane.
Tricycles are a nuisance to trafic, slow and careless, specially in Ubay or in Talibon. They are so careless of the traffic jams they create, as though they own the roads for themselves. I wonder when the local authorities will decide to ban them or highways

We live in the province thinking traffic would be a breeze compared to Metro Manila. What an eye opener! Roads that were designed for 4 lanes only in reality have two. The other lanes are devoted for pedestrians, wrong way vehicles, parked cars, business over flow, trees, yes trees! Besides this, you have to contend with slow moving jeepneys, tricycles, and work vehicles that shouldn't even be on the road. It will take you 45 minutes to travel 10 km. So far I haven't seen many motor bikes using the sidewalks like they do in Vietnam, but that's probably because there rarely are any sidewalks.

Yes all the philippine motorists dont give a care,as long as they get to there destination,Speeding,mobiles,overtaking dangerously,not giving way,full beam headlights on.THATS BECAUSE 90% OF them dont have licence and no actual driving tests.The law stays in manila,in the provinces the police dont give a ' shit' if they see a law breaker. My oppinion,is that they will kill themselves and some other inecent drivers and familys....total arrogant,knobs..

Where did u have this statistics of 90% ?

In my experience, It's true that the provence police are rarely if ever enforcing the traffic laws. But there are a couple of positives. I never see road rage like you would in the states and you rarely see accidents. The Philippino people make this traffic circus work.

In fact the most dangerous driver I saw in Manila was a foreigner :-) she was following the rules according to her own country not the Philippines... and quickly she started to panic which is a mistake in the traffic of Metro Manila. I have seen in my own eyes a road rage in Mandaluyong... it was the most stressful moment in my life..  the offended left his car, took a gun and went to the taxi where I was and pointed the gun toward the driver... when he saw me a kano, he cooled down and went back to his car .... it is true by the way that the taxi driver did stupid things also !

Had an expat in Santa riding a motor bike on the side of the road hit by a car who crossed the center line to pass and then went onto the shoulder of the road, breaking the expat's collar bone.  The car driver did not stop and there were no witnesses coming forward with any information.  I prefer buses and jeepneys the more armor the better.

how hard will be the punishment? will the punishment be changed because you are an expat?
I am living in Hanoi where the traffic is way crazy than my homeland, however, there's still flexibility to foreigners. How about in the Philippines?

That's really shocking to me because I have no idea about the Philippines has guns... I mean people have guns in that way!

michellepena wrote:

That's really shocking to me because I have no idea about the Philippines has guns... I mean people have guns in that way!

Guns would not be the norm with the vast majority of Philippinos but there are exceptions in every country. I am pretty sure most crimes here are not firearm related.

I understand exactly why Filipinos can't drive, they go buy a car, go to LTO buy a license, go on the road and try to learn how to drive and because traffic laws are not enforced they never learn

So true okieboy. The gov't dont care if these drivers KILL INNOCENT people.force the law on them and fine them bigtime...if you have a car in philippines , it means they have money..simple.!!. If they fine the law breakers,just think of how many BILLIONS of cash the gov't would have to construct new roads all over the country.. The gov't dont give a shit on that idea only build build build in manila only..fuckwits all of em 🤪🤪🤪🖕

I'm always amazed that so many Filipinos drive big 4x4 utility vehicles when the roads are not suited to such vehicles, I guess it's the status symbol thing.

Color coding? Could you briefly elaborate on this, and would it apply to an expat?
Thanks

FindlayMacD wrote:

I'm always amazed that so many Filipinos drive big 4x4 utility vehicles when the roads are not suited to such vehicles, I guess it's the status symbol thing.

I must disagree, I was only discussing this with my GF the other day that due to the conditions of the roads that we must purchase a 4 x 4 or all well drive, safer in the wet and on rough roads, and better visibility.   Ok in general they are about 66mm wider than a small sedan but for the safety aspect they are much better.  Not a status thing at all, we currently use local transport to get around town and to the province but when we move to live in the province it will be 4 x 4

SirDwight wrote:

Color coding? Could you briefly elaborate on this, and would it apply to an expat?
Thanks

I believe you may be referring to number coding.  On specific day of the week in Manila and surrounding areas for example, there is one day per week that your license plate number (and others) will not be allowed travel in order to ease congestion on the roads. 

Does it work?  It doesn't appear to.

https://www.autoindustriya.com/features … guide.html

I disagree, I think the big 4x4 SUV gives many drivers a false sense of security, the 4x4 SUV owners I've seen here always seem to drive too fast for the road conditions and they have no patience if they get stuck behind someone going slower (when I say slower I mean a reasonable speed for the road and weather conditions) and they usually end up overtaking very dangerously.

pej1111 wrote:

FindlayMacD wrote:

I'm always amazed that so many Filipinos drive big 4x4 utility vehicles when the roads are not suited to such vehicles, I guess it's the status symbol thing.

I must disagree, I was only discussing this with my GF the other day that due to the conditions of the roads that we must purchase a 4 x 4 or all well drive, safer in the wet and on rough roads, and better visibility.   Ok in general they are about 66mm wider than a small sedan but for the safety aspect they are much better.  Not a status thing at all, we currently use local transport to get around town and to the province but when we move to live in the province it will be 4 x 4

For some it may be practical for a larger family.  For others, like a Filipino we know, his Fortuner is definitely a status symbol.  He can barely afford the payments and maintenance is non existent.

The ones who drive like their on a race track. Their brand of stupidity seems to equate to no specific vehicle size or type. Rich, poor or in between, their just morons.