⌛ Newbie Englishman

Hi there,

I have been visiting the Dumaguete area for years but just discovered this great forum today !

A thread that interested me was the impact of foreigners on the region. I'm an Englishman married to a local Filipino. We currently live in England and have also bought a plot south of Dumguete (not on the sea shore) where we intend to build a house, and then we will live more permanently in PI. I hope that my little impact will be positive and I want to integrate into the local Filipino community. I think the vast majority of Filipinos are lovely people, and I really appreciate the natural beauty of the area, and am a scuba diver too.

There are plenty of topics I am interested in hearing your opinions on...how about....

The problem of stray dogs! This niggles me for loads of reasons. I discuss the issue with the locals and I have not found anyone who thinks 'stray dogs' are 'good' but the problems seems to be getting worse year on year, even though the local municipality (Zambo) talks about taking some action. What do you guys and gals think?

The driving behaviour of the Ceres Liner buses. For a major company I think the bullying tactics they use on the road is unacceptable. What do you guys and gals think?

Cheers
Romany

 

I think your in for a nasty shock
its the pinoy way of life, if you don't like it stay in sunny England.
BTW Welcome to the forum.
Jim

 

I agree to you with the bus-drivers, and as I am travelling through many regions in the philippines, I have to agree, that the Negros oriental way of driving is very unique. "How is my driving?" that's what you can read on many busese and taxi throughout the philippines, and yes I did call there, if a taxi driver wanted to rip me off or shows a inappropriate driving behavior... I can tell you that the service-guys take a call there very serious and kick the drivers ... and even calll you back... But not here in Negros Oriental...
You nerver see so many people just sitting on the street at night anywhere, only here. If you drive from Bacolod to Dumaguete, you can recognize exactly when you cross the border from Negr. Oxidental to Oriental. As soon 75% of the headlights are broken and people sti on the street at night you are here. hehe

cheers

Rhoody

 

Hi there Romany. And welcome to the forum. Where are you in England? We are from the Northeast- Newcastle. Hawaaay the Toon. ( Sadly that's all I know about Geordie language).:D :D :D

 

Welcome Romany! We certainly do enjoy discussing topics and issues on this forum. It is a great way to come up with better methods and ways on how to improve upon the already wonderful way of life in DGTE. There are always ways to improve on anything.

hmmm...........very interesting comments Rhoody! so it is POSSIBLE to have better driving records amoungst Taxis and buses which makes me wonder WHY Negros Oriental has not bought into that concept. Who is the enforcer? The police or probably driven by the Mayor and other officials that make it a priority. Or maybe using citizen POWER could come into use by throwing tomatoes at the bus as they whiz by......then they MIGHT get the hint that people in DGTE won't tolerate such driving behavior. lol! Seriously, there should be some way to bring it to light since it has already been enforced in other areas within the PHL.

 

The Pinoy way of life?

Hi Jim,
I like most things in PI but it's natural not to like everything isn't it? Not liking some things gives you some incentive to try and improve it - or do we just accept all the bad stuff in life? There are things I don't like in the UK too, but still I am happy and proud to call myself an Englishman!
Cheers
A Romany

 

Hi Rhoody,

We went on a Ceres Liner to Bacolod and back one day on a 'sight seeing' trip. Very beautiful countryside but a scary trip. The only seat belts were in the front 2 seats and they didn't work! The driver just forced his way along the road with the horn - children, old people and dogs were made to get out of the way or else! Several times we thought about trying to find a taxi or something else on the way back just to get off the bus.
Part of the problem is the lack of sense and consideration by many road users, but still I feel that the Ceres bus company needs to take a better approach since they are the worse offenders.

A few months ago a friend of the family was killed by a Ceres Liner and 2 others left seriously injured. I just wonder how many victims that company has clocked up over the years?

Sorry to be a bit 'down' on this subject but do other people know of incidents like this, since maybe this will help if these views can be represented to the bus company management to see what their response is?

A Romany

 

England

Hi Chrissar,

We live in Bath.

Cheers
A Romany

 

Thanks Cyndi

Hi Cyndi,

Thanks for your support - also see my reply to Rhoody.

Best wishes
A Romany

 

Hi Romany welcome to the forum.I agree with what you all saying here about the bad driving in and around dumaguete outer towns.It seems many motorist don't recognize traffic rules ,like for instance the zebra crossing ,there's a likely chance of being run over while walking across .
When on holiday last month we noticed more motorcycles without headlights roaming the roads during dark,jeeeez that was really scary, as we nearly got on one . People sitting down the roadsides as if extension of there front yards and don't even bother to move (perhaps they need the hard way getting hit before they to learn ) . It seems the authorities aren't taking notice ,only turning a blind eye of the issue ,not recognizing they can earn extra revenues out of clamping down these bad motorists and vehicles while exercising a clean up .If they do that I bet the traffic will be halve.

I also agree with he comments about the Ceres bus ,seems like they own the roads.Last month alone there was a vehicle collision along the Himampangun in Bindoy and was caused by a Ceres bus and poor car was out of shape ,people in the car got injured but dunno the update of that. A neighbor even shared his experience few months ago while on a Ceres from dgte ,that the driver was over speeding ,the Ceres swaying to both left and right lanes which frightened all the passengers.Eventually one was able to contact the police and the bus was stopped at Tanjay. All the passngers got off the bus petrified to continue the journey.Later on the test revealed the driver was drunk and on drugs,imagine sitting on that bus.

Though this isn't the end for dumaguete ,only to wish for the aunthorities will do catching up with their work and responsibilities for making the city livable and safer at least even on the roads.More jobs to do.