The Multicab : A Popular and Versatile Transportation and Commute in Cebu

I do not know how people from other countries call this vehicle but Filipinos, particularly in Cebu call it “Multicab”. Compared to other modes of transportation its affordability and versatility makes it popular among Cebuanos. It is being utilized mostly in small to medium scale businesses. Still, others use it as family service vehicle mostly by the middle class. The components are readily available at surplus spare parts dealers. I have once heard from a cousin that these vehicles usually come in bulk orders as second hand units from Japan and refurbished by local car dealers to sell for a hundred thousand pesos more or less. These are said to have been used in transporting machineries or equipment within factory compounds in Japan.


One of the most common use of multicab in Cebu, as with any other cities and municipalities in the Philippines, is transporting passengers. In other words, it is one of the passenger commuting modes. The fare is the same as with regular Jeepney rides that ply within city and provincial routes. Moreover, it shares some of the Jeepney routes and coding. The only difference is that, of course, it carries lesser number of passengers in its transport.

Passenger multicab being chartered to transport company employees to and from the workplace.

Out of resourcefulness, Filipinos have further reinvented the multicab into a firefighting vehicle mimicking the design of bigger firetrucks. It proved effective getting inside narrow alleys in cramped up housing or squatter areas where bigger firetrucks could not penetrate and firehoses could not reach the blazed residences.

Unassuming the size of a multicab might be it has significantly served Cebuanos’ lives in a number of ways. It has become a growing symbol of the middle class communities' economic struggle and livelihood.

Cebu’s V-Hire: The Faster, Economy, Semi-private and Air-conditioned Passenger Ride to the Provinces

If you are in Cebu and you want to travel or commute to any of its provinces or adjacent cities the V-hire is another one of your choices aside from the buses, taxis or private cars (rental, owned or borrowed). The V-Hire is an air-conditioned mini-van to ferry passengers to a destined province or municipality of Cebu.

One of the advantages of taking the V-Hire as your mode of transportation is that you have less waiting time for the vehicle to take off. As soon as the van is fully occupied it will leave the station right away. It can accommodate 10 persons more or less depending on the mini-van size, brand and model. It is usually faster than the buses because it only stops a few times to drop passengers on the way. The fare is usually uniform regardless of where you will be disembarking. However, in some cases, the fare varies. It runs from over a hundred pesos or less than a hundred depending on the distance of the travel. The fare is collected by a conductor before the transportation takes off.

Passengers in a hurry usually take this mode because the driver can make necessary route adjustments or shortcuts if necessary during heavy traffic, flooding or long road re-routing. The pick-up stations are at mall terminals and at certain government designated waiting/parking area for V-Hires. You can find these pick-up / drop-off stations at Cebu City hall area, SM City (North Reclamation) and Ayala Center Cebu being the most popular ones. The route is labeled at the designated waiting area. One last advice, though, is that you should not bring big baggage/s with you because there is less space for that. If you are one of the first passengers to board you can choose your comfortable seating. However, if you are a person who dislike being cramped up in close space you better take the air-conditioned bus. You can read my post about buses in Cebu.

Taxi Ride in Cebu - Loading and Unloading, Current flag down and fare, Driver Modus, Complaining Erring Drivers

Taxi cab rides in Cebu is currently at Php40.00 flag down upon boarding and Php2.50 per succeeding 200 meters or an estimate of about 4 electric posts. As for this post the flag down rate mentioned above is the un-calibrated meter rate since the last gas rollback. It means, the total registered amount is appropriately minus Php10.00.

Taxis abound in Cebu and adjacent cities and you can always wave your hand to signal to the driver that you are taking the ride. You can have them stop at roadside almost anywhere except on heavily congested traffic areas on rush hours where traffic personnel are manning the vehicles and apprehend violators. You need to look for a lightly congested spot and side of the road to avoid hampering the flow but if it cannot be avoided you need to board faster so vehicles behind cannot be delayed.

For foreigners and especially those unfamiliar with some of the drivers’ modus you need to be wary of their tactics when you disembark and pay the fare. Some of them usually tell you that they do not have available coins for the change. So you end up paying extra instead of the exact fare. I usually have with me handy bills of Php50.00, Php20.00, as well as 10, 5, 1 peso coins so I can pay the exact amount. A small amount may not hurt you but thinking that those drivers do that to most of their passengers you could be feeding their greed. But if you do not have the smaller bills you can always ask the driver before boarding if he has loose change for your bills.

However, there are also exceptions and I am very much willing to pay the honest ones extra as tips. You can always tell which ones take advantage and those that don’t. There are instances of passengers arguing with drivers. In that case, you can always take their name from their ID which is required by Land Transportation Office (LTO) or the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to be displayed hanging in the front rear-view mirror or conspicuously in front of the passenger. Alternatively, you can the taxi cab's body number, further taking down also the date and time of the incident then report to LTFRB or any LTO Offices in the city. Take note, that even the non-display of their ID’s is itself a violation.

Moreover, if you are taking the taxi cab from the malls or airport on designated taxi areas a security guard or attendant will write down on a ticket and give it to you upon boarding. The said ticket contains information about the cab which you can use to report to authorities for erring drivers. Asking for meter reading receipt or taking secret video of the incident may also help strengthen your complaint case.

But again, I would like to finally clarify that there are still a bunch of honest drivers out there. They obviously outnumber the malicious ones. Certainly, with a new and stricter elected President the erring ones may start to straighten up themselves. These infos should not discourage you about Cebu but, rather, just bits of advices help you be on guard. Good luck and enjoy your stay or future visit in Cebu.

Cebu Jeepneys - Cheap/Affordable Passenger Ride/Transportation in Cebu, Philippines

In my previous post about transportation and commuting in Cebu I mentioned about the Jeepney being one of the transportation modes available for the public. Like the rest of the cities and provinces of the Philippines, Cebu has numerous jeepneys plying the routes of major thoroughfares most especially the cities and municipalities within its provinces. The routes are regulated and number coded (e.g. 04A, 12L, 21D, etc.) which any local resident usually knows for quick reference. If you do not know where a code’s route is you can always refer to the printed signage displayed at the left portion of the front windshield or printed visibly at the body of the jeepney which has been the standard reference before the coding was implemented a long time ago.

Current fare for the ride as of this posting is at an affordable Php7.00 minimum for the first 4 kilometers. An additional, cheap Php1.00 is added to the minimum fare for every kilometer thereof. The fare usually fluctuates depending on the current gas prices. I will update the above-mentioned fare rate when the need arises.

To board a Jeepney at designated Jeepney stops along the roads, you only need to wave your hand for the driver to see you and indicate that you are taking his route. If there is still a vacant seat the driver will stop to let you board. Usually a “conductor” will assist the driver in looking for prospective passenger, cues the driver for passenger loading and unloading and takes charge of the fare and coin changes to allow the driver uninterrupted driving activity. If you are inside the jeepney you can cue the driver or the conductor right at your destination by knocking the jeepney roof/ceiling or simply say the Cebuano terms “lugar lang” loud enough for either the driver or the conductor to hear you.

Commute/Travel by Bus Rides in Cebu

Bus rides in Cebu usually ply the national highways from the Cebu South Bus terminal and North Bus Terminal to and from the neighboring southern and northern provinces, respectively. You can choose your bus company for your particular provincial destination when you get to the terminals which have designated bus parking for each province. A conductor will assist you with your packages and takes care of your ticketing and payment inside the bus.

Currently, there are a few buses that pick-up passengers and traverse within Cebu and Mandaue Cities. The KMK Bus Transit company takes and drops passengers along the roads from Naga City to SM City Cebu (passing through Cebu South Roads, National highway, P.del Rosario, Imus, Hipodromo, Mabolo) then back. Bus Conductor who ride in the bus along the routes issues tickets once a passenger boards and then collects the cash payment later.

Another bus company serves the riding public within the city - MyBus. MyBus takes the South Road Properties (SRP) in ferrying passengers within their routes. This bus takes no cash but charges fare through a prepaid E-Card which can be bought at any SM malls in Cebu and from its MyBus stations at SM City Cebu. Minimum top-up or load for the E-card starts at Php100.00. Fares (Php15-Php40 range depending on distance) are deducted from the card load by tapping it at the electronic sensor/reader.

Transportation and Commuting Means In Cebu

As a starter about this blog I'm posting the means of transportation and commuting in Cebu, which vary according places you will go to. The accessibility, type of roads and distance will determine what mode of transportation you can take to a particular destination.

For major thoroughfares you can take a private vehicle if you can have one or if your contacts/relatives can arrange to borrow one for your use. However, if you are taking the public commuting mode it varies from place to place in the form of bus rides, jeepney rides, taxi cabs, v-hires, multicabs, tricyles, tartanilla (horse carriage), pedicab (bicycle with side-car), and the motorcycle rides which we locals refer to as "habal-habal". Let me describe each of them briefly as well as to their availability and applicability in my succeeding posts. Assuming it's your first time to read/know any of the above-mentioned transportation or commuting means you can always search online for images to give you the idea. I know, there's just too many of them online. That should make it a no-brainer thanks to Google.