Dancing With Death in Manila Taxicabs

The grinding howl from underneath the cab brought a grinning apology from the cabbie, "Sorry. Sir, no brakes." as he worked the gearshift to slow and swerved left; just missing a large truck by an inch or so.  On entering the back seat I had noted the shattered remains of his right-side mirror and realized that it was the first I had seen in over twenty rides we've taken since we returned.  It was certainly not the first near miss, and will surely not be the last.  We have five more days here and I don't plan to spend them indoors.
The photo was taken to try and illustrate rush hour in a monsoon downpour.  Traffic is bumper-to-bumper, speed ranging from almost reverse to fer-chrissake-slow-it-down fast.  Hanging off the back of the jeepney directly in front are the conductor and a hapless passenger who wants to get home no matter how wet he gets.  He could be wet a long time.  Our ride from the airport to Pasig took two hours for a trip of about 25 KM-longer than our flight from Dumaguete to Manila.  Anyway, the rides are always entertaining; if you enjoyed the car chase in The French Connection.  More likely than not, the seat belts are missing or buried under a seat cover.  Apparently they aren't required, but that must be for passengers, as I've noted 50/50 use by drivers.  Mandatory equipment is the rosary hanging from the mirror.  Sometimes there are several hung in various parts of the cab.  Could they be at expected impact points?  Usually there is a plastic Jesus and/or a bobblehead on the dash in front of the driver; perhaps functioning as a rudimentary aiming device. 
Cabbies run the gamut from the wannabe tour guide to the taciturn technician.  They have all been honest, though not necessarily knowlegable of Manila's micro-geography.  Traffic law compliant?  I'll remain silent on that, but will state that they are all excellent accident-avoiders.  A discussion of drivers' philosophy here would keep me up all night, but let me paraphrase it: " I can get to that space first, whether it is rightfully mine, and besides, my cab is worth less than your car or I have a bigger knife hiding behind my bigger balls."  I wish them all a safe trip home.