A Jeepney Ride to Tinambac

The sea breeze greets you first and you know you are in Tinambac. From the vantage point of Santa Cruz, one can see the vastness of San Miguel Bay and the houses along the Baybayon. And from the Sta. Cruz bridge, looking west is the town's Punta where the old Villamora house once stood  until it was swept away by a tidal wave.

By Alfonso Bermejo Villamora 
Kaiba News and Features
Reposted by Bulatlat.com

Before national government money paved the Naga-Tinambac roadway, this route was a patchwork of potholes, frail wooden bridges and river crossings - all superimposed on what was basically a third class dirt road. The public transports that traversed this route were part moon vehicles, part amphibious transports, and part regular vehicles. Of course when the roadway was paved, the transports remained unchanged. Although, the numbers have changed (more jeepneys than buses) to include the poor people's modern conveyance, the padyak - a three wheeled conveyance powered by both legs and ganot (sweat)!

A bus ride on the old dirt road was always an adventure. In the glory days of ALATCO, buses used to line up in the Old Alatco terminal on San Pascual Street. Passengers from Tamban and Tierra Nevada would then converge for the Naga trip. There were no jeepneys and if there were, would not have lasted because of the punishing ride that the road inflicts on any modern transport.

Tinambac Poblacion is a sleepy coastal town but is the commercial hub of the barrios throughout the municipality. There were fixed time schedules for departures but the real schedule was determined when all seats were taken, when all extension seats [wooden stools lined on the bus's aisle] were occupied, and when the bus's istribo is full [cargo and passengers]. When needed, the bus's hood becomes additional cargo/passenger space. During the fiesta months of April and May, an overloaded bus is a bus that is barely discernible because of human and material cargo inside, and all over it. Metal bars on the bus's side are regular features to allow the conductor a foothold in order to collect the fare through the side windows while the bus is running.

The 37 kilometers of asphalted road with moon-like craters everywhere was on a good day, a two-hour ride. Nowadays, with the mostly concreted road jeepneys only take 40-45 minutes one way.

From Naga, one can take a jeepney ride to Tinambac at the consolidated terminal (near the old Alatco terminal) along Elias Angeles St. The terminal is also used by jeepneys bound for Calabanga.  At this junction, vendors sell a variety of foods: from ice-cold imitation fruit juices, candies, salted peanuts, boiled eggs and others. Once passengers board a jeepney, ambulant vendors take turns selling their merchandise through the jeepney's open windows. Once the seats are filled the conductor then signals the driver saying "abante na!" The jeepney then departs. Almost always a vendor or two is hussled and has to jog while awaiting a passenger-customer counting loose change to pay for a cold drink or a baduya.

Countryside scenery

The ride through Canaman, Magarao, Bombon and Calabanga enables one to see how much of the countryside has given way to the suburbs. Extensive housing projects and subdivisions particularly in Canaman, market buildings and other business enterprises occupy what once were agricultural lands. Jeepneys can now pass through Quipayo enroute to Tinambac, exiting at the Calabanga Centro before reaching the main highway. All other passenger buses and jeepneys follow the main highway from Naga to Tinambac.

At Calabanga, a new batch of ambulant vendors approach the jeepney. As the jeepney makes only a brief stop, these ambulant vendors are a more "aggressive" group: "Uy, mani, mani mani. Chicaron! Pepsi, pepsi malamig!” The cold drinks range from the bottled variety to "tetrapak" fruit juices. Bottled drinks are emptied unto "cellophane" bags; a straw comes with the purchase of "Coke," "Pepsi," or "Mello-Yello." Mani is either roasted or boiled. Of course, chicharon is pig's skin/fat deep-fried and sold with a small bag of vinegar.

Calabanga is a driver's nightmare given the myriad of Padyak. When one takes the main route to this town, one would know if he or she is already in the town proper - Padyak  is everywhere. That is why they call this place the Padyak capital of Bicol if not the Philippines.

Anyway, as the jeepney passes through the town proper of Calabanga and unto Paolbo-Belen, one cannot help but notice stumps of cut coconut trees along the way. The old big trees are gone and coconut trees that were once abundant along the way have started to disappear. Coco-lumber has become a lucrative business in Bicol.

The ride through the farm lands of Manguiring and Bagacay is refreshing since it is mostly open fields and thick green bushes. One can actually fall asleep during the 45-minute ride to Tinambac. There are hardly any potholes along the way, making it a smooth ride.

Driver’s nightmare

If Calabanga is noted for its Padyak, Bagacay is another driver's nightmare - kids, kids everywhere especially at the kurbada just before Katdose. Kids some of them stark naked litter the highway particularly in the afternoon. If you pass through there in mid-afternoon, some of these kids may be seen bathing in a natural burabod while near them are the women folk pounding away at the day's laundry.

If a passenger has fallen asleep along the way, he would certainly wake up when the jeepney reaches Mananao because of the muddy smell emanating from the fishponds and mangrooves. It is also a good mark to remember that one is only 10 minutes away from the Poblacion. If the jeepney is going too fast, one would probably not notice the Army detachment in that barrio. Pockets of NPA regulars still stalk the thickly forested areas of Mananao and Bolaobalite.

Parong dagat! The sea breeze is what greets you first and you know you are in Tinambac. From the vantage point of Santa Cruz, one can see the vastness of San Miguel Bay and the houses along the Baybayon. And from the Sta. Cruz bridge, looking west is the town's Punta where the old Villamora house was located until it was swept away by a tidal wave. Yes, a tidal wave (I kid you not!)

Upon disembarking from the jeepney, one can tell what a passenger bought from the ambulant vendors. As they get off any of these may be on their clothing: bits of sugar, spilled soft drink, grated coconut (from "kutsinta" and "palitao"), "sno-bear" and "Halls" candy wrappers, and of course bits and pieces of seed coats from all the "butong pakwan" and mani eaten during the trip.  Kaiba News and Features/Reposted by Bulatlat.com

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