Nothing should be more crucial than the development of the transport sector under the so-called Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), especially for the basic livelihood and subsistence of the drivers, operators, and manufacturers/assemblers of iconic jeepneys in the short and long term.

I support the modernization of the jeepney, which is obviously outmoded, cramped, and an inconvenient medium of transport. However, I’ve been there as a passenger for decades and as an operator of several units for years. I do not find any reasonable rationale for replacing it with the imported minibus that its pushers call modern jeepneys. Meanwhile, a few are already plying the usual routes in the metropolis.

At least 650,000 jeepney units are crisscrossing the Philippines’ major and minor streets nationwide. Of course, the majority are found in Metro Manila, which, among other things, encourages foreign tourists visiting the Philippines to try them out and experience how it feels to ride a jeepney. We learned that most travel packages include a jeepney ride from their hotels to specific destinations. As we all know, jeepneys are unique and can be found only in the Philippines.

Ms. Kyla Gurrobat says, “As a student, I have been riding public utility vehicles, mainly jeepneys, to go to school. I ride jeepneys, rain or shine, and it is guaranteed that jeepneys are a great mode of transportation for students, workers, and people of any level.”

Many traditional jeepney drivers are against modernization because of its prohibitive cost, which can result in a severe financial strain on the drivers and passengers. As a commuter with a limited budget for fares, I think the jeepney modernization does not apply to everyone. It would be better if the government made modernization an option for jeepney operators who want to upgrade. Likewise, let the commuters decide which they prefer, the jeepney or the minibus.

We should not let the traditional jeepneys go to waste since many commuters and drivers depend on them.

Mr. Obet Martin of the minuscule Pasang Masda organization recently bragged to PBBM, during the town hall meeting on traffic concerns, about the sector’s majority support of the PUVMP and the modern minibus’s supposed benefits.

On the ground, wherever in the country I go, most drivers like Nelson Canlas say otherwise. “The jeepney modernization is a loss of income. In just four months, I spent on air-conditioning maintenance. After six months, my tire exploded. And on the eighth month, my fan belt had to be repaired.”

Most transportation experts, passengers, and most Filipinos are calling for the indefinite suspension of the government’s PUVMP. The government had set a non-extendable deadline of 30 April 2024.

The experts, notably Dr. Ted C. Mendoza, Dr. Rene Ofreneo, and Dr. Antoinette R. Raquiza, all UP professors, said those agencies pushing for the PUVMP’s implementation make it appear that steering away from traditional jeepneys is the main solution to de-clogging and reducing carbon pollution on the country’s main thoroughfares. That’s flawed and discriminatory, too, because, in Metro Manila, less than two percent of the total vehicles are jeepneys. Mind that.

But let me emphasize that I understand the need for rationalization aside from decongesting the metropolis and attaining a zero-carbon environment. Targeted ironically, or wrongly though, is one sector where a population mass of at least 650,000 operators and drivers will lose their livelihood for good. How will that work?

Of course, as required by the government order, the owner-operators will consolidate under a cooperative with training to ensure that they know what they are confronted with. Also, they will incur a debt of over P2 million for the imported Chinese, Korean, or Japanese minibus compared to less than a million for the iconic modernized real jeepneys produced by Filipinos.

(To be continued)

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