One good reason to get a car of your own to drive in Manila, no matter what a rickety, old second-hand it is: it’ actually safer to drive on your own in the city’s crazy streets than depend on public transportation.

My own arguments against riding public transport are these – if you’re riding a taxi: you never know the driver’s temperament or if their meters are reliable. Some smell of LPG gas (because, well, they’re using it) and it’s really crazy hailing taxis during rush hours, the holiday season and when it rains.

As for FXs buses and jeepneys, I get claustrophobic and paranoid about holdup incidents. The only thing I favor are the LRT and MRT trains to easily get to Point Z from Point A, but the lines at the terminals can get really long too, and occasionally there are mechanical troubles which can stall your trip for hours.

I’ve had my commuter days and have my own horror stories to tell about riding public transport. One time, the taxi driver was really acting weird and appeared to be high on drugs. I leapt out of the taxi at the next stop light, but not without him shouting invectives at me. God knows where he could have led me then.

As a result, I’ve formulated some rules in riding a taxi in Manila:

1. Ride only on taxis ran by reputable companies. Never mind if you have to shell out extra pesos for it.

2. Practice precautionary measures like keeping the doors locked, carrying a self-defense spray and sitting at the back, instead of beside the driver.

3. Text the taxi’s plate number to a family member or friend as soon as you ride the car

4. Riding a taxi at 6 a.m. is safer than riding a taxi at 3 or 4 a.m. In the same way that riding a taxi in groups is safer than going it alone, at that hour!

On Facebook tonight, the horrific story of this young woman who was mugged by a taxi driver caught my attention:

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