(Part 2)
Corrupt policemen near jeepney stands often demand a percentage of the total fares collected in every trip. Other crooked street cops accost the jeepney driver for real or imaginary infractions of traffic rules, and extort money from them, called “tong.”
Jeepneys operating with no valid franchise are called “colorum.” Their drivers pay a regular bribe to the cops to avoid apprehension.
In the early 1960s, the multi-colored jeepney became a symbol to promote tourism in the Philippines. Even the now-defunct Hotel Intercontinental Manila in Makati had a “Jeepney Coffee Shop” which had a facsimile of a jeepney inside its premises.
There was daily newspaper comic strip called “Gorio and his Jeepney,” and it had a full-color version in the Sunday edition of the same newspaper. It also became a TV program featuring local comedian Chiquito.
The quaint image of the jeepney began deteriorating in the 1960s when jeepney drivers and operators in the metropolis organized protests against fuel price hikes. “Pasang Masda” was notorious for jeepney strikes which caused a lot of inconvenience to office employees and students.
It was the proclamation of martial law in September 1972 which ended the jeepney strikes.
By the middle of the 1970s, radio sets became commonplace in every jeepney. The “music” was often irritating because of the poor quality speakers, which were located under the passenger seats.
New jeepneys no longer used metal signs displayed on the windshield to announce their route. The route had to be written in paint under the windshield, and on each side of the vehicle, to discourage trip-cutting.
It was also during the 1970s when amusing sayings started appearing inside the available visible space inside the jeepneys. These signs include “God knows Judas not pay,” “Binata pa po ang driver, jingle lang ang pahinga” and “Basta driver, great lover.”
After Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was assassinated in August 1983, many jeepneys displayed political stickers supporting the political opposition. Months after the incompetent President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino seized power in 1986, jeepneys displayed protest stickers like “Edsa —the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
At the height of the strongman administration of President Ferdinand Marcos from September 1972 to August 1983, there were no jeepney strikes in the country. Strikes in sectors affected with public interest, which included public transportation, were declared illegal. Jeepney and bus operators who allowed their drivers to go on strike risked losing their franchises.
To discourage jeepney strikes, the Marcos administration created the Metro Manila Transit Corporation, which operated hundreds of Hino regular passenger buses imported from Japan. The MMTC buses were painted in royal blue hue and were clean and comfortable. They plied the major routes in the National Capital Region. These buses were the first to use florescent lights. Other buses used incandescent bulbs.
Upon the urging of First Lady Imelda Marcos, the MMTC introduced air-conditioned passenger buses on bus routes in the metropolis in 1975. Each bus was called a “Love Bus.” Commuters preferred those buses to the jeepneys.
Although the MMTC buses had specific routes, any part of the fleet could be redirected to any route anytime to address any serious shortage in public transportation.
If the MMTC buses were not enough, military buses and trucks were always on call to ferry stranded passengers.
By the turn of the twenty-first century, jeepney drivers in Metropolitan Manila and in other urban centers in the country had become nefarious. Today’s jeepney drivers are rude and inconsiderate to other motorists. They violate traffic regulations with impunity, travel at breakneck speed, shorten their routes without justification, and even shortchange many of their passengers. Many of them smoke while they are driving.
Most jeepney drivers keep rocks near their gas pedals which they hurl at motorists they quarrel with. Those who are able to drive continuously for several hours without resting are evidently into prohibited drugs. There are many jeepney drivers who do not have the requisite license to drive.
Most jeepneys are not properly maintained, so they belch thick smoke that causes respiratory diseases and pollutes the environment. Many run on worn-out tires, thus making them safety hazards, especially on rainy days when the roads are slippery. Most jeepneys do not have functioning brake lights. This makes them road hazards since they make indiscriminate stops anywhere their drivers want to.
There are jeepneys who do not use their headlights at night to save on battery power, and on the stupid assumption that because they can see other motorists, other motorists can see them.
Reckless jeepney drivers involved in a road collision say that they are just trying to make a living. How and why their making a living excuses them from complying with traffic and safety regulations is a mystery.
Because jeepney operators and drivers do not carry insurance, they are unable to compensate any of their passengers who may get hurt or even die during a road collision or violent accident. That’s a clear violation of the law governing public transportation.
Jeepneys are not practical means of public transportation because the road space occupied by two jeepneys is enough for a regular bus, which can accommodate a lot more passengers than the two jeepneys combined can. The void arising from a jeepney phase out can be filled by replacing the jeepneys with buses or similar bigger, more practical vehicles.
Displaced jeepney drivers will have to seek other employment. It’s about time that public safety should not take a back seat to the employment of reckless, abusive jeepney drivers.
Each time the government attempts to phase out the jeepney, operators and drivers go on strike to paralyze the nation. That’s akin to making the government a hostage! Sadly, past administrations had no political will to phase out the jeepney.
President Rodrigo Duterte should be congratulated for his refusal to be hostaged by striking jeepney operators and drivers, and for his determination to phase out the jeepney and introduce a more efficient public transportation system for the country.