"3 things I have seen this week: Jeepneys"

"3 things I have seen this week: Jeepneys"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

There have been calls to change the existing jeepneys that ply our streets and this has been met with both positive and negative responses with some claiming that the jeepney as old and as inefficient as it is is part of our cultural identity and then there are those clamoring that the cost of updating the jeepneys will be too much of a burden to the common jeepney driver and their operators. 

It has been that kind of week.

1) 3 Jeepneys

With Piston declaring their transport strike early the government has responded with suspending classes and government work for two straight days. The result was that of a Manila that seemed like a ghost town and when my wife and I went out on our normal Monday date I counted around just 3 Jeepneys that did not join the call to strike of their brethren. The need to pay bills sometimes trumps the need to fight for principles.

2) The Lone Jeepney 

The transport strike was relatively quiet , at least where I lived. There was a single jeepney and several drivers with a single megaphone shouting things in front of the Valenzuela Town Center with 3 Red boys(Valenzuela's traffic police) watching them from a few feet. If people expected trouble it wasn't going to come from these guys who were just standing around and from time to time remember that they were on strike would shout one thing or another on their megaphone.

3) Jeepneys of the future

I have seen the future and most of them look like Mini-buses! So there was a show of sorts that paraded the jeepneys of the future. Some of the designs looked promising but I understand the alienation it must have caused because they tend to look like really small buses. If they wanted mini buses to replace the jeep then why not just increase the number of buses. Then again I don't claim to know everything. An efficient and dependable mass transport system seems to be in order but there seems to be a problem with providing just that.

3 different jeeps at 3 different times all spurned by the call to change and improve and the question is will there be change? will there be improvement? Only time will tell.And maybe a few more transport strikes will be in order.