Bring back the jeepneys now
It is now a familiar sight in many streets in Metro Manila: Jeepney drivers flagging down private car owners and begging for alms. It is a sight we never expected to see in our lifetime, although we’ve had an inkling that it could happen, especially considering the previous and current administrations’ common desire to phase out jeepneys.
With only a small fraction of routes allowed, the ban on jeepneys has meant loss of livelihood for at least 250,000 jeepney drivers nationwide. Adding members of their families, the number of persons affected by the policy could reach millions.
Of course, since jeepneys are the main mode of transportation for most Filipinos, the ban has also meant unnecessary hardship for commuters, be they healthcare workers or minimum wage earners.
Many municipalities in the country depend mainly on jeepneys for mass transportation, as well as transport of goods. We wonder how long the towns and cities, especially in the provinces, can afford not to have jeepneys plying the streets and connecting many of our towns.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Inter-Agency Task Force on top of the pandemic response have a simple reason for the ban: Jeepneys are supposedly unsafe for travel. They claim the ban is for the good of the commuters and the drivers themselves.
As early as the first few days and weeks of the lockdowns, jeepney drivers made modifications in the jeepneys that would ensure physical distancing. But the DOTr, which obviously found a convenient alibi to pursue its perverse desire to phase out jeepneys, would not give them any chance.
It would have been acceptable to continue the ban on jeepneys, but only if the DOTr and the IATF did several things at the same time: Provide adequate mass transportation to replace the jeepneys, and give the drivers emergency financial aid so they would not go hungry. We now know that they failed to do both.
Would the return of jeepneys be safe to both drivers and commuters?
The independent healthcare workers’ group Second Opinion couldn’t be any clearer about this: “Jeepneys should be back. They’re safe.”
Second Opinion says: “There is no scientific or medical basis for the banning of traditional jeepneys and they should immediately be allowed to provide transportation to the Filipino public.”
“To date, neither the IATF nor the DOTr has provided any scientific or medical explanation or evidence for the decision to ban jeepneys, which has led to the further impoverishment of thousands of families and to hardship for commuters, including frontliners,” it said.
Second Opinion added: “Government’s decisions on public transportation has been largely arbitrary and even goes against the grain of the World Health Organization advisories on reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19. For instance, modern jeepneys and point-to-point buses currently allowed under the MECQ have small, contained spaces with limited ventilation (due to their air-conditioning). These are high-risk situations.”
“In contrast, traditional jeepneys, with their specific body build (e.g., have large windows, entrance without doors), are much better ventilated and allow for better free flow of air. With proper physical distancing of passengers, these become more spacious. Taken together, these minimize the risk of transmission,” the healthcare workers’ group said.
Citing science-based policy recommendations from transport authorities abroad, Second Opinion said: “The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) both have globally accepted guidelines that can be applied to traditional jeepneys. Jeepneys operators, drivers, and associations can readily adhere to these recommendations.”
It did not escape Second Opinion that the DOTr and IATF have issued conflicting and contradictory policies on tricycles and motorcycles.
“Whereas tricycles were initially not allowed to ply their routes, they were eventually allowed to do so with nary an explanation. Similarly, the imposition of a physical barrier between a motorcycle driver and the passenger at the back, even if the rider is the spouse or family member of the driver, simply has no sound, evidence-backed basis,” said the group.
Just this week, the government announced that “barriers” are no longer required for tandem riders, without any explanation. In the same way that there was no scientific explanation for requiring them in the first place.
If we applied the same, arbitrary, unscientific “standards” applied against jeepneys on all modes of transportation, there would be no modes of transportation that could be allowed. And it would become obvious that private vehicles, which top officials use, have been largely or totally exempted from “safety measures” rolled out by government.
Meanwhile, there are no indications that jeepney drivers would get any share from the billions in socalled stimulus funds in the Bayanihan 2 bill being rushed in Congress. Neither would drivers and conductors of city and provincial buses, whose livelihood were affected less by the pandemic, but more by the government’s policy responses to it.
PISTON and other jeepney associations are ready. They, along with scientists, engineers, and transport experts have come forward with modifications to ensure the health and safety of drivers and commuters.
At least 250,000 Filipinos are waiting for the government to correct its mistake. Lifting the ban on jeepneys would be good for employment and other economic activities across the board. Workers and frontliners need to be able to go to work. Towns nationwide are waiting to be connected.
If there’s anything that ought to be phased out, it shouldn’t be the well-ventilated, open-air jeepneys. We should phase out arbitrary and unscientific policies such as the ban against jeepneys and the dangerous barriers for motorcycles.