Visited some Philippine Islands online groups today and perused a variety of subjects that posters were concerned about.

Driving and Drivers' Licenses in the P.I.:

Why in the world would you want to? The traffic there is horrendous, pedestrians, dogs, kids all jump out in front of you....not to mention the other vehicles obeying "no rules of the road". If you decide to explore, 75% of the sidesteets you proceed down are going to be a deadend because someone decided to put a building in that spot, closing off the street. The street may continue on the other side of the building, but you gotta drive 2 miles to get to that continuation. Ah, you are using a map?.....LOL...You ever try to follow a streetmap of a city or town in the Philippines? Get real.

If you happen to get lucky and the street is not a deadend, you will encounter the inevitable truck or empty jeepney parked in the middle of the street blocking traffic. The driver may not be present, and may be only having lunch at a little sari-sari or cafe nearby. He'll return sooner or later to drive away.

With the added costs of license, insurance, maintenance, upkeep and finding the elusive place to park everywhere you go, I think I would opt for paying a dollar or two worth of pesos and let a trike driver navigate the labyrinth of streets and deliver me. Those guys know what they're doing, even if half of them are "buzzing" on a couple bottles of Redhorse.

Have you ever seen where the folks who own vehicles park at home in the islands? How do they get their cars in there without losing paint and chrome off the sides of the car? If they're parkin' on the street, guys are peein' on their tires all night...or stealin' the tires.

I remember sometime back a poster said something like "you gotta make eye contact with the other drivers to navigate safely when you're driving". Heh heh. By the time you've made eye contact with these drivers it's too late pal. Besides, there are a high percentage of vehicles with the glass in the car so tinted, you'd never be able to see the driver, let alone make eye contact with him. Driving is just for the nuts over there kids. No offense intended. heh heh.

The locals doing most of the driving are much younger than most of us...some even as old a 12 or 13. I swear I have seen some kids driving motorcycles and scooters that looked like they were about 10 years old.

I really don't mean to offend those who decide they need to have their own transportation and can afford to do it. I will just ask if I can be your life insurance beneficiary. I could really use the pesos and the odds would be a lot better than the lottery. I'll even pay the premiums.