When you go to the Philippines,
the main mode of land transportation is jeepneys or taxi cabs and the currency is Philippine pesos (PHP). Riding jeepneys
is very cheap, so it is advisable that you take them if you want to save money. As of this writing, the minimum fare for jeepneys is PHP 8.00 or
around US$0.20. One peso is added for every additional kilometer.
A jeepney can accommodate about 16 to 32 passengers depending on
its size. Passengers are seated side by side and payments are done by passing
the fare to the driver through other passengers. Here is a typical conversation
when paying fares in a Jeepney.
Note: In jeepney
terminals, other persons are assigned to collect payments from the passengers.
Conversation in
Paying a Jeepney Driver
Passenger: Bayad po, pakiabot (My payment, please pass).
Driver: Saan ito? (Where to?)
Passenger: Sa Fairview Mall. (In Fairview Mall).
Driver: Ilan to? (How many?)
Passenger: Isa lang po. (One only).
Translation
Bayad po. –
Bayad is payment and adding po makes it polite.
Saan to – Saan is “where”, to is a short cut for “ito” which refers to “this is.” So, when the
driver says Saan to?, he really means
“To where to is this payment?” The to
refers to the money the driver is holding.
Pakiabot – Please pass. Pakiabot is a polite way of saying “iabot”
Ilan - “How many” as in "How many are you paying for?"
Isa lang po – Isa means “one”, lang means “only”, “po”
is added to the sentence to make it polite.
When Driver Forgets
Change
There are many passengers, so, although it seldom happens, the
jeepney driver might forget your change. Here's what you will say if the driver forgot your change.
You: Yung sukli
ko po?
Driver: Magkano pera
mo?
You: Fifty pesos (state the amount you gave).
Translation
Yung sukli ko
po? - My change
please.
sukli means
“change”, ko means “my”, po added to make the sentence polite
Magkano pera
mo? - How much is your money?
Magkano means “how
much”, pera means “money”, and mo means “you”
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