Last week I was riding on a jeepney at the corner of Gorordo and Arch Reyes. This is a busy intersection close to one of the major shopping malls here in Cebu. There is always a tong taker at this corner. He’s suppose to direct traffic and load your jeepney with new passengers. Of course it is illegal for jeepneys to stop here. It’s to close to the intersection and cause big traffic tie ups. So he also has to pay the traffic enforcer or the traffic enforcer will run him off.
He collects a peso from the jeepney drivers for this service. A jeepney is a conversion of a military jeep in to a bus for public transportation. The tong man will not let the jeepney stop at his corner if you don’t pay the tong. He will chase you off.
Well the tong business has taken a new twist. The home made spite wad gun is popular with the street kids here in Cebu. I remember we used to make these when I was a kid. An art I learned from my Father. We would use a branch from a mulberry bush. It had a hollow or soft center and you could push it out with a stiff wire. A hard wood stick was then carved and fitted into the hollow tube. A couple of spit wads and Walla! A Pop gun!
Here in the Philippines the kids use the trunk of small bamboo tree. Now if you have a little money, you are able to buy a plastic pre-made pop gun that shoots small plastic pellets. These have been popular for about a year. Now the new trend in pellet guns is much bigger model and more realistic looking.
Well to end this story, the tong taker had a big old pellet gun sticking out of his back pocket. Big enough for all jeepney drivers and traffic enforcers to see. Mmmm don’t pay the tong. Bang! bang your dead. The tong business is getting more serious.