Blowing out tires

A post-war byproduct, traditional jeepneys or locally known as “jeep/dyip” evolved from being a war remnant to a cultural icon in the Philippines. It is one of the major modes of public transportation, connecting outskirts and nearby provinces to cities and business hubs, playing a crucial role in the supply chain across cities and provinces. Through decades, jeepneys transport thousands of students and working class peoples to their destination, and are considered a vital part of the transportation economy. Yet in a country relentlessly grappling to contain its public transportation system, jeepneys are facing threats of modernization—a loss to many not only as a cultural heritage but also as an important source of livelihood and transport option.

In 2017, the country’s Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued  Department Order No. 2017-011 —also known as the “Omnibus Guidelines on the Planning and Identification of Public Road Transportation Services and Franchise Issuance or the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines (OFG)”—which launched the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP). It’s an overhaul not only of traditional jeepneys,  but also of other four- to six- wheeler vehicles including utility van (UV) express and buses .

Prior to this order, anyone could technically own a jeepney, as it only needs one legal franchise per vehicle to hit the road. Although it provided more leeway for drivers and operators to invest and to own their jeepneys, the Philippine government argued that it is relatively hard to regulate the old franchise, ownership, and registration system. With the PUVMP, all transport groups are subject to  “franchise consolidation requirements” set by Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB ) that will centralize the ownership of franchises to a one corporation or single cooperative, stripping drivers and operators the opportunity to own their vehicles and subjecting them to a more hegemonic control. By the end of 2023,  around 30,000 jeepneys could end their journeys  on the road.

The modernization program, on top of phasing out traditional jeepneys, also cripples drivers and operators with an insurmountable debt they could accumulate from loaning  “modern” and air conditioned jeepneys which  cost around PHP 1.4 to 3 million  (roughly USD 25,000 to 53,000). In comparison, traditional jeepney drivers earn around  PHP 400 to 500 (roughly USD 7 to 9) per day, and could even earn as little as PHP 300 (USD 5) due to increases in fuel prices . These numbers alone show that there is a huge and almost impossible gap to fill between drivers’ income and the price of a modern jeepney they are forced to buy. 

Furthermore, apart from drivers and operators, commuters are also disproportionately affected by this program. Data shows that the phase-out of traditional jeepneys will  put 28 million commuters in a never-before-seen transport crisis . It is also projected that as jeepneys and other public utility vehicles undergo modernization, commuters will also bear the brunt of the minimum fare increase,  ballooning to up to PHP 50 (roughly USD 1) from PHP 15 (a quarter) .

Although deadlines for the PUV consolidation were moved and extended multiple times, the Marcos government is still keen to push the PUVMP’s realization, all while dismissing specific demands of transport groups, commuters, and jeepney operators and drivers. The state’s propensity to violence took shape as they tried to silence people’s demands over its  anti-poor policies  and rhetoric of transportation modernization and improvement. People clamoring #NoToJeepneyPhaseout in the streets faced harassment from state police during mass protests and the tigil pasada (transport strike). Even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, police forces arrested and jailed  a 72-year-old jeepney driver for “resistance and disobedience.” 

The Philippine government persistently argues that modernization programs across the country will ultimately benefit the environment. Indeed, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector alone reached  35.42 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent  in 2022—a worsening figure expected to increase in the coming years based on historical projection. Yet, the path to supposed sustainability overtly contradicts the agenda itself. The PUVMP reportedly uses  Euro 4 engines running on less sulfur that is already obsolete in developed countries . Thousands of jeepney drivers will suffer from crippling debt only to operate the scrap of the global north.

For Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Solidarity of Drivers and Operators’ Organizations Nationwide) or PISTON, a federation of transport groups in the country, the PUVMP only “ facilitates the dominance of foreign corporations, corrupt officials, and large businesses in seizing control of public transport .” A manifestation of corporate capture of development, this program will continue to adhere to private interests while jeepney drivers, an important machinery of the country’s transportation sector, will be continuously and vehemently sidelined. Furthermore, the utilization of state police power to silence dissenters violates the constitution, the federation explained.

Aside from and similar to DOTr’s PUVMP within the Metro Manila area, another public transportation modernization project is currently being implemented in Davao City, Southern Philippines. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), together with City Government of Davao and DOTr, is funding the Davao High Priority Bus System (HPBS) Project, which will  replace the former networks of traditional jeepneys  within the city with a “ bus-based public transport operating system ”. Consequently, the approximately USD 1.7-billion project will strip more than  7,000 traditional jeepney drivers  of their franchises and livelihood and will  affect indigenous people’s communities in the districts of Calinan, Marilog, Baguio, and Toril  as the new “modern” buses roll out.

ADB has historically impacted several communities across the region. Despite touting themselves as the “climate bank” of Asia Pacific, their projects remain harming ecosystems in Asia Pacific and inflicting damage to communities and its people. Almost 3% of the total costs of the HPBS project came from the Green Climate Fund, a funding entity assisting climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries, courtesy of the ADB. Two of the six  operational priorities  of the project aim to build a sustainable, climate- and disaster-resilient environment and to address poverty and inequality; reality, however, tells the opposite of the latter priority, with the project resulting in drivers’ deprivation of livelihood and dispossession of ownership over their vehicles.

Similar to the Davao HPBS project, several ADB-funded transportation projects across the Asia-Pacific region also caused the loss of livelihood and forced displacement of indigenous communities. The  Imphal Town Ring Road  in Manipur, India, for example, affected over 1,000 households in different villages, with their farming and fishing livelihoods lost because of roads being constructed for economic connectivity and transport improvement. For the bank,  transport ation (next to power) is one of the infrastructures that needs the most funding in Asia Pacific. The sector is one of the operational priorities of the bank included in its  Strategy 2030 . In fact, the  Philippines is the sixth country in Asia Pacific  to receive the highest transport funding from ADB with 89 projects as of April 2023, amounting to USD 5.6 billion.

The PUV modernization programs continue to erase an important image of solidarity and culture while receiving funding to further corporate and private control of the economy. Transport strikes across the country have called for a “ genuinely sustainable mass public transport anchored on national industrialization .” In the fight for climate change, the world can expect the full support of civil society, especially of transport federations towards a climate-resilient and more sustainable future, as long as programs are not implemented at the expense of people’s livelihood, and the right to lead their own transition according to their needs. More than preservation, the Filipino people need the collective support of civil society in pushing for a workers-led, pro-people, rights-based, inclusive, and enabling just transition.