Connect with us

News

Group Suffers Accident in Sagada, But Tour Agency Charged ‘Penalty Fee’ for Cancellation

The Philippines is a beautiful country with a lot of tourist spots and destinations located in many places across the archipelago. To cater to the needs of tourists and travelers, a lot of tour agencies provide services for tour packages that include the travelers’ transportation, accommodations, and a tour to the top attractions in the destinations they booked.

While booking trips through tour agencies make the vacation easier because you no longer have to worry about transportation and where you’ll go when you get to your destination, not everyone has a good experience with these companies.

Netizen Billyjoe Baronda shared a bad experience he had in a recent trip to Sagada. They had booked an exclusive trip with a tour agency to ensure they had the van to themselves, but they ended up having ‘joiners’ in the trip.

Photo credit: Billyjoe Baronda / Facebook

The tour agency changed the van they were supposed to use after they paid the downpayment. But what’s worse, instead of the seasoned driver they were supposed to have for the trip to Sagada, a replacement driver was given to them at the last minute.

This driver wasn’t familiar with the destination as this was also his first time to Sagada. This led to the group getting lost for 3 hours because the driver didn’t know the way.

But after the somewhat successful tour they had on the first day, the group noticed that the van was moving differently as they were headed back to their transient house. They told the driver about it, but the guy felt insulted by their observations. Instead of checking the vehicle like he should have done, he took selfies as ‘proof’ that he’s a good driver.

The group no longer complained as they knew they were near their transient house, anyway; though they felt a bit fearful as the van was overspeeding at 140 km/h.

About 10 minutes away from the transient house, the vehicle slammed into the road gutter, with its two wheels going over the concrete and the vehicle was half hanging at the side of a cliff!

The driver hurriedly jumped out of the vehicle. Instead of helping the passengers, however, he knelt on the road and later said he was ‘praying’ because he got out safely. The tour coordinator tried to also jump out of the vehicle but changed her mind when she opened the door and found herself nearly falling down the cliff.

Photo credit: Billyjoe Baronda / Facebook

Baronda was thankful for the locals who helped save their lives; though he felt scared as it was him and his brother who were the last to be saved from the van.

But after the accident, the tour agency offered them only two outrageous options:

Option 1: The trip goes on as planned (no extensions), with the same van and driver

Option 2: Canceled tour, refund on accommodation and half of the van rental because they managed to arrive safely at Sagada.

The group eventually chose Option 2 because they definitely didn’t want to ride the same van with that driver, but they were charged a ‘penalty fee’ for cancelling the trip! The tour agency also refused to pay for their medical fees or the items damaged in the accent. The agency didn’t even pay for their transient house.

So, the group had to cut their trip short from the supposed three days to just one day because they no longer had money to cover for the additional expenses they might incur as they had essentially been left by the tour agency to do things on your own. Still, they were happy to be alive as the van was just inches away from rolling off the side of the cliff!

Read his full account of the incident below:

An unforgettable experience in #SagadaFirst of all Thank you Lord for the another life. We are really grateful for the…

Posted by Billyjoe Baronda on Sunday, March 3, 2019

Lifestyle

Prayer before Meals? Photo of Kneeling Customers of Roadside Carinderia Goes Viral

A photo of kneeling customers at a roadside carinderia goes viral, with many netizens joking that these “religious” buyers are already praying before their meal. LOL

Photo of Roadside Carinderia’s Kneeling Customers Goes Viral

In the Philippines, carinderias are a popular place for finding affordable, budget-friendly meals.

They’re usually small stalls with simple dining sets where people can dine for much less than what you’d normally get billed at a restaurant.

Carinderias themselves can still be considered a restaurant, but they’re a toned down version with much cheaper rates. You can even order “takeout” meals that they’ll usually put inside plastic roll bags instead of a Styrofoam or cardboard box you might expect from a regular restaurant.

And while carinderias aren’t usually the subject of a viral post, one recently gained social media fame after some customers have been photographed kneeling while taking their order.

Now, we forgot to mention that many carinderias have a loyal customer base of people who often go there on a regular basis. Many of them might be workers or students in the area. Other carinderias also have nearby residents as regular customers.

kneeling buyers
Photo credit: Casper Correche

So, it isn’t surprising that when a carinderia was affected by a new road made several feet above the old one, the loyal customers kept coming back to the their favorite food source.

The only difference is that now they have to adjust and kneel down so they can check the food items being offered by the carinderia.

A photo of the said carinderia, credited to Facebook user Casper Correche, was shared on Facebook page “Calbayognon.” In the post, the page identified the carideria to be somewhere in Calbayog, Samar.

The page joked that the three guys seen in the photo were ordering one more serving of adobong manok before ending it with an “Amen.” It’s like they’re already done praying before they get to eat their meal.

How Road Widening Affects People in the Philippines

There are lots of great benefits to road widening:

  • Better roads
  • Wider roads that can accommodate more cars
  • Less traffic

However, road widening can also some negative effects:

  • Roadside houses and establishments might be included in the expansion
  • Some of these buildings can also become lower than the road level, leading to various issues (and the owners don’t usually get compensation to change their houses so they can be at road level again)
Continue Reading

News

Customer Wants Free Portrait, Sends Bible Verse to Make Artist Feel Guilty

A customer wants free portrait – and had the audacity to send a Bible verse to make the artist feel guilty for trying to ask for payment in exchange for the drawing! Whoa.

Customer Wants Free Portrait, Guilt-Trips Artist with Bible Verse

These days, it has become easier for artists to connect with new customers through apps, messaging, and other social media or online tools.

You can even find an artist on Facebook marketplace, TikTok, Instagram, or just about any online platform available.

What’s sad is that these artists also encounter a lot of bogus “miners” or those who request for an artwork to be done, but then vanish without a trace. For example, a customer canceled two paintings created by a deaf-mute artist after he was already trying to deliver the pieces!

artist portrait
Photo credit: Chaboy dela Cruz / News5

Recently, someone reached out to artist Chaboy dela Cruz to ask him to create a portrait.

And while that isn’t something new, the artist had a good sense to ask whether the person he was chatting with had plans to pay for the commissioned art – because they actually didn’t want to pay up!

This person even set the deadline, but was shocked to learn that the artist was asking for payment over the artwork.

artist portrait
Photo credit: Chaboy dela Cruz / News5

Instead of asking how much they’re supposed to pay, this freeloader sent dela Cruz a screenshot of a biblical passage from Hebrews 13:5-8, which says in English, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have (because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake).

What’s even more hilarious about the customer’s demand is that they didn’t even know the artist personally. You’d think they were friends by how they worded the post. LOL.

How Much Do Drawings And Portraits Cost?

This actually depends on several factors, but mostly the artist’s talent and name. You’d see newbie artists charging as low as Php100 per bond paper-sized portrait, but the same thing could fetch thousands of pesos, maybe even millions if commissioned by a famous artist.

Continue Reading

Inspiring

Doctor Goes Viral for Beautiful Penmanship and Writing Instructions in Filipino

A doctor goes viral for beautiful penmanship – and we also love that he writes the instructions in Filipino for his patients to better understand. Isn’t that awesome?

Doctor Goes Viral for Beautiful Penmanship

Yes, doctors are known for having a really bad, barely readable penmanship. There’s even an on-going joke that only pharmacists can understand what they write (which is actually true on many occasions).

Thankfully, many doctors have realized that writing their prescription in incomprehensible handwriting might lead to errors in dispensing the medications.

Photo credit: Robert Dominic Gonzales

This can be dangerous, actually, especially because some medications can have lethal effects when given in incorrect doses or to someone with certain underlying medication conditions.

Recently, one doctor went viral for writing prescriptions in calligraphy-like handwriting – and she isn’t the only that impressed netizens with good penmanship.

Dr. Robert Dominic Gonzales amazed netizens when he shared a photo of a prescription that he had written for a patient.

It’s very clear from the prescription that he described this patient with Losartan at 50 mg per tablet.

Photo credit: Robert Dominic Gonzales

The prescription is good for 30 tablets, with clear instructions written in Filipino for the patient to drink one tablet per day to control high blood pressure.

Dr. Gonzales captioned the post, “From practicing the alphabet, writing essays, and answering tons of exams… we’ve come to this point of using a pen and paper.

The impressive handwriting amazed netizens who mused that doctors should learn to write prescriptions in this manner so that it will be clear to the patient, not just to the pharmacist.

He explained that it’s best to write prescriptions in a manner that’s clear for everyone to help avoid medication errors. He added that taking the wrong medication due to these errors can put the patient’s life in danger.

Photo credit: Robert Dominic Gonzales

How to Make Sure You’re Taking the Right Medicine

  • Check your doctor’s prescription to see if you can understand what’s written
  • Don’t be shy to ask the medications’ names and the right dosage you need to take
  • Don’t be afraid to request your doctor to make the medication name easier to read so you won’t mix up your medicines
  • Double check the name of the medicines you receive from the pharmacy
  • Buy a pill box or labeled container to help you keep track of the medications (many people forget whether they’ve already taken the medicine or not)
  • If you have plenty of medicines, organize them and create a list of what you need to drink for a particular hour of the day
Continue Reading

Trending