Deadliest Roads | Philippines: The Man and the Monsoon | Free Documentary

Perhaps a staple food in many countries, this small white grain is not only a source of life for many but is the key to survival on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Life in the town of Kalaburgao moves to the rhythm of the Rice harvests are the only opportunity for residents to earn a little money until recently bags of rice were transported by cart to local towns. It was an endless journey, as a result the farmers began to work together and now a truck transports the produce to the market every two weeks. Dodong with the baseball cap is the truck driver for the village's

monsoon

season is already underway and In addition to all the heavy rain the air is filled with a stifling humidity level of almost 70 percent within 24 hours the rice will begin to sprout making it unsaleable This would be disastrous for the village Lizelle joins Dodong on the trip She is in charge of Negotiate the best price for rice this time Lizelle has taken a risk due to the level of surrounding humidity she has decided to transport two and a half tons of extra rice enough to destabilize the old truck and its driver the bridge is only two years old but it looks like it could collapse in At any time the bridge is an appropriate symbol for the Philippines itself, a country divided between its growing modernity and its forgotten regions located between Taiwan and Indonesia.

The archipelago is made up of almost seven thousand islands in regions located beyond the tourist routes. They must fend for themselves doing business sometimes seems impossible these risks are worth it if it means making a lot of money but even then Filipinos need to muster up a lot of courage to search for gold 15 meters below the surface of these muddy pits smiling and never complaining about their weapons face life's challenges with the help of a little magic endure some pain to come In the end they come out stronger, Filipinos try to keep their spirits high, although their outdated public transportation system is enough to destroy any Morally, some of them never reach their destinations, but even then it is better to laugh about it than to get angry like a mammoth that chases them.

His Dodong herd and Lizelle's truck does not exceed 10 kilometers per hour. A 70-kilometer journey awaits them. Under the best conditions, it would take them six hours, but in the middle of the rainy season, they may never reach their destination. The track is loaded with six tons. of rice that run the risk of rotting in the drain the ravine is always close in this mud a sharp hit on the brakes would send odong and liessel flying over the edge towards the 40 meter drop below and they would slow down, so They will do, this vehicle is not broken down instead, a much smaller vehicle blocks the path of this miniature truck obstructing the flow of traffic in both directions.

Little by little a large traffic jam begins to form, to the dismay of the passengers, in these forgotten regions the inhabitants use their own trucks as ambulances. He's been waiting for four hours. and her ordeal is far from over the winch on the front truck is broken lizelle is worried about rice and her family she and dodong should have already completed half of the trip now everyone is wondering how the driver could have driven over this huge stone without seeing it, although it may seem ridiculous, no one judges or says anything, dodong is fully aware that the

roads

of this country are full of surprises, indeed a few kilometers later, he too is caught in a trap, they are paying the price of overloading their truck in two and a half ton they are now seven hours late but dodong is used to staying calm in stressful situations getting angry wouldn't help anything after an hour a light appears at the end of the tunnel or rather two truck headlights that could end their fight oh, To try and save his load, the driver of the yellow truck refuses to give up, giving up is not an option, but this time the broken cable prevents any further attempts to

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himself, the construction truck continues on its way leaving Dodong and Nizel to set up. the camp. foreigner after a few hours of sleep dodong quickly returns to work the smiles from the night before disappear when they see the amount of mud buried in their truck dodong and lizelle are already a day late and their situation seems impossible to get out of the driver wonders how His luck may have been so bad that Filipinos firmly believe that luck is earned, many men and women are willing to cross the country to find theirs.

Legend has it that on the island of Luzon an old woman from the town of Buscalan has the power to bring you luck and strength to get to this town you have to travel in these strange vehicles the Filipinos call them jeepneys after the Second World War the American soldiers hundreds of jeeps were abandoned a skillful maintenance staff decided to enlarge the vehicles and change the car key to a variety of vivid colors this is how public transportation in the

philippines

was born every driver uses their own imagination and sometimes the style can be a little kitsch every centimeter of the vehicle is used abroad in a temperature close to 30 degrees a few ice cubes are unlikely to keep the products are great, as in the jeepney, a problem with the vehicle often means sore feet when , when they reach their destination, the famous town sought by pilgrims in search of luck, everyone clings to their dream of getting there, while Johnny, the driver, predicts a journey full of obstacles from the beginning of the Worn shock absorbers fight for face the journey and, in fact, so do the passengers.

I know it may be inconvenient, but this vehicle can go anywhere, which is very practical for residents who live far away. The road is ruined but, strangely, Johnny doesn't stop. when it accelerates it rarely exceeds 30 kilometers per hour but due to the conditions of some

roads

Filipinos are not used to reaching that speed to the dismay of passengers maintaining these roads is not one of the government's priorities the bus is now approaching the lands mystical the town of Buscalan is not far away this territory belonged to the feared warrior tribes known as the Kalinga, the Arpaio and the ruthless rears.

Their specialty lay in decapitating their enemies and displaying them as trophies, it is said to be the last of the head hunts that occurred. In the late 1970s, legend says that warriors gained their strength and fighting skills from supernatural tattoos. People like bayani hope to improve their luck by getting one of those tattoos. The Philippines' last remaining mystical tattoo artist lives in these mountains. and there is only one path that leads to her foreign saudi people in today's society the warriors have become peaceful farmers wang odd is over 100 years old she tattooed the last headhunters of her tribe today the queue for her tattoos It continues to increase and I travel for about 14 hours that last everyone comes in search of a tattoo that brings them good luck it is said that a scorpion gives strength and protection here the sun and the moon merge a promise of good health and vitality or a compass that guides your choices in the right direction dewater is 28 years old she came in search of the strength of the scorpion to help her overcome life's challenges it's like something in me is uh you know it made me whole bayani refuses to let us film her tattoo He believes it is too personal the ink is made from a soot base and a new needle is used for each new tattoo.

There is no fixed price. Each individual pays as much as he wants. The old woman supports the entire village with her craft, but after almost 100 years, Wang Odd is almost ready. remove her needles, although she has passed on her knowledge to some disciples, everyone wonders if the tattoos will retain their power or if they will become simple drawings. After her death, the tattoo artist will continue to be revered like her ancestors. Most likely, her tomb will be placed along along the shores of this cliff. They are suspended from the highest possible point to avoid any potential damage.

In the past, it was not unusual for headhunters to search for his trophies in cemeteries whenever he came. Here Gerald honors his ancestors with gin and some foreign cigarettes. The dong is still stuck in the mud. He could really use the help of his ancestors or even a scorpion tattoo to give him strength and protection, but Dodong prefers to rely on his assistant. help and there is a lot of work to do and lisel is now 24 hours late and every extra hour on the road puts a greater risk on her load of rice to demonstrate the severity of her problem these grains of rice fell from a bag in the back from the truck two days before its departure the seed is already five centimeters if more moisture seeps into the six tons of grain the load will be thrown into the container but it's not for nothing that they call the Philippines the land of dodong smiles and their men continue to It lifts their spirits, only a bulldozer can get them out of here, so other vehicles try to force their way through, not a good idea, okay, now the road is completely blocked, just like these chickens, a cacophony of struggling engines fills the foreign air, it's almost noon and these mighty steel giants arrive on site all year round these bulldozers maintain the roads as best they can they are also used as cranes due to the state of the roads the government allows these rescues are carried out for

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there are still 40 kilometers to travel before reaching the market after a few more kilometers of mud they will reach a paved national highway their ordeal is almost over but others are still waiting to be rescued with the sun rising dodong has opened the tarp to prevent the bags from getting too wet.

They will have invested 24 hours in just 70 kilometers, but their effort will not have been in vain. His entire load of rice will be sold to the majority of Filipinos living in the countryside. The average income is around 9,000 pesos, that is, 150 euros per year. month to make a living you have to be resourceful and brave wake up every morning with a dream strive to get rich despite all the risks to find gold these people are happy to examine the upper layers of sand unfortunately their shovels come out mostly empty a little more there others are willing to take more serious risks these gold miners are the only ones of their kind in the world they have just spent the last two hours filling bags with mud 15 meters below the surface the pit measures just over a meter by a meter being claustrophobic is not an option approximately six hours at the bottom of the well his mask helps protect his eyes from the sand underwater he is buried in total darkness a flashlight would be of no use in this muddy water the air he breathes is sent by this compressor In the space of two hours the diver fills about 15 bags with mud who immediately sift the mud in search of the precious specks of gold.

It is impossible to know exactly how many miners are buried in the At the bottom of these pits the work is illegal so There is no official record but the police are trying to track them. Hey, the fine is normally around 300 euros. The fortune, ironically, the gold would come in handy because on average these daring miners collect between one and two grams of gold a day, which is equivalent to 40 euros that must be divide by six. A devastating gold rush is taking place in the Philippines. The country has the third largest gold production potential in the world.

The land is saturated with gold and the mines are expanding. Like wildfire, especially in one of the southern provinces known as the Compostela Valley, however, instead of sacred pilgrimages, this Compostela Valley is famous for the sweat and hard work that flows through its mountains. , today this steel dictator has a mission and nothing can stop him, the truck. It was used by the Iraqi army Saddam transports the gold miners to one of the most dangerous mines on the island The road ends here Saddam cannot go any further The miners must now begin the two-hour walk up the mountain upon arrival receive new chisels which were manufactured on site this very morning hmm the vein is solid so the gold can be seen with the naked eye but this treasure has a price extracting it is not without risks during the rainy season the structure of the mine weakens the rocks They fill with water on the surface.

The rain washes away the mountain and infiltrates all areas of the mine. Except for a possible collapse, the miners are also afraid of drowning. These men are almost completely self-sufficient. The giant bamboo shoots that grow nearby. They are used as ovens inside they feast on chicken marinated in lemongrass it is enough to warm the hearts and souls of these men but their rest is short-lived now they have to carry the bags of dirt to a jeep that will take them to the saddam m weighs each bag around 50 kilos and the jeep is parked a kilometer higher for each bag they carry, the miners receive a bonus of 60 cents per bag, the bonus is almost not worth the effort put into getting it, Pedro, the young driver does not like mud.

His gaze clashes with that of the other miners sitting next to him. He may be a bit boastful, but PedroHe is right to prefer to play the driver, he earns a little more than the miners although in reality he is not allowed to get behind the wheel except if he likes to show off. It is better to be an expert in your craft, otherwise you can become the laughing stock of the mountain. Even when they free you of all its load, Pedro's jeep cannot pass to prevent the wheels from skidding. The miners agreed to hand over one of their bags of gold.

The jeep may be full of gold but he still can't get out of this mess, but nothing works. Pedro's boss arrives and is a little upset movie now they only have to load the sedan but their problems persist hello um a lot of effort a lot of problems a lot of stress the desperate search for gold makes these men lose their minds abby tries to stay calm it's strange that the Gold diggers are still far from finishing their work. All cargo has to be transferred to another truck that is more capable of traveling on paved roads.

The seven tons of dirt will be washed away in a safe place this time. All the sweat and work will finally count for something once the wash is complete. The director of the mine will claim almost a kilogram of gold. These miners know they will never be rich, but it doesn't matter. Your survival is your greatest fortune. Last year, almost 10 men were buried alive in the mines, so she may not look it, but she is that old. the jeep is the last hope for some drivers we meet dodong the rice transporter when he has no deliveries to make he works as a temporary breakdown mechanic the dog is the only mechanic in the region who can drive he is accompanied by his foreign boss rumi the two They are on their way to help a broken down vegetable truck as the load of rice is at risk of coming off as they drive through Dadong and Rumi takes some passengers with them for free.

There is no public transportation in this region, but sometimes walking would be less difficult, yes. The mechanics arrived at their destination after five hours on the road. Unfortunately, welding is not an option at this level of breakage. Dodong can only repair the damage enough to get the truck to the shop where the part he has been working on will need to be replaced. Six hours in the meantime, Ramirez's boss cheers him up with some karaoke, uh, late into the night, and lulled by Rumi's melodic voice, Dodong manages to repair the break.