Transportation in the Philippines

The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands in Southeast Asia. The country is divided into three major island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The earliest form of commercial transportation in the Philippines was the calesa, a horse-drawn carriage. Before the Spanish colonizers introduced the calesa, native Filipinos used the carabao (a domesticated subspecies of the water buffalo) to pull a wooden or bamboo sled for transport. During the Spanish era, only top-ranking officials rode the calesa.

Traditional way of trasportation in the Philippines, called Calesa

Today, the calesa is still used in some regions for transportation but very rarely on the main streets. Calesas, though are now a tourist attraction in both rural and urban areas. But transportation in the Philippines has changed dramatically over the years in the Philippines. People are concerned with getting to their destination faster for personal travel or to transport perishable and non-perishable goods.

Filipino Jeepney - designed in different colours and designs

There are many reasons to visit the Philippines. The country’s thousands of kilometers of dazzling beaches and resorts are a prime attraction. Domestic and foreign tourists can also go shopping in world-class malls, quite a good number of which are found in major cities. Knowing how to get around to different places in the country should be one of the first things to do before exploring the Philippines.

sikad means to “kick” in english, an action word attributed to the human foot.

In the Philippines, there are many choices of transportation: taxis, buses, jeepneys, boats, planes, calesas, outrigger canoes, tricycles, pedicab, trisikad, habal-habal or the usually unlicensed motorbikes that ply routes from city streets to the remotest mountains. The habal-habal is a convenient alternative ride especially if you go to mountainous areas where four-wheel vehicles don’t usually go.

Habal - Habal

In this website, we discuss vital facts of the transportation system in the Philippines.

Traveling by land is one of the most exciting ways to get around most of the places in the Philippines. Whether you are going to historical places or off to see long-lost friends and relatives, there are different ways to reach your destinations by land, depending on the terrain and the distance covered. There may be tariffs and irregular fare charges on the way, depending on your route and destination. Foreign tourists will not be expecting to see calesas in a majority of city streets. They have been replaced by jeepneys, taxicabs, and buses, the most common means of travel. Few calesas are actually used in rural areas, their use limited to being tourist attractions and fun rides for both domestic and foreign visitors. Going around the country by land is easy. The Philippines has a broad public transport system, with national highways in major islands.