Capiz Cop Car

A while back I featured police cars from Atlantic City, NJ and Ottawa, Canada. Here's one from my native Capiz, Philippines, photographed last May 2010. This police car was parked near the town plaza during the fiesta.

Obviously, it's a Toyota--trusted car model in the Philippines. I don't think I've seen a Philippine police car in a Honda Civic, Volkswagen CC, or a BMW X5-Series type. Perhaps I'll have more luck seeing a politician riding any of those models. But my parents who have been to Germany would tell me that police cars (Polizei) and even taxi cabs out there are Mercedes Benzes! They have a photo with such Deutsche dirt-devils!

My teenager cousin from Chicago who went to the Philippines for the first time last summer with us asked where the policemen were. She noticed how they're not that visible in the streets doing rounds. My mom jokingly replied, "You don't see them in public a lot because they're at the beer gardens." You can tell by her perplexed face that she was begging for more info.

My curious cousin eventually found cops, in the middle of the sweltering Divisoria heat. She was so happy, she actually posed with the cops for a photo. The seemingly starstruck cops gamely posed with her. They probably thought she was some Fil-Am TV star out on the streets for a little bargain-shopping. When one of them asked her "how old are you?," they knew it was a cue to hit the New Divisoria Mall.