When Covid Meets Climate Injustice: Phasing Out Jeepneys and Driving Unemployment in the Philippines
Avril De Torres, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development
Over 13 million Filipinos have lost their jobs or livelihoods during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the middle of a recession, record-high unemployment, and one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Southeast Asia, the Duterte Administration railroads the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program — a programme phasing out non-electric or non-Euro-4 compliant public utility vehicles starting with jeepneys. Tens of thousands of jeepney workers have been displaced since March 2020 as they were no longer allowed to operate if they did not have the capacity to modernize their vehicles. Many have resorted to begging or protesting on the streets. It is in this deep sense of injustice that transport workers, workers’ groups, commuters, and sustainable transport advocates united in defining a just transition towards a truly low-carbon and democratic public transport system even in the time of COVID.
After World War II, American troops left their military jeeps in the Philippines which Filipinos upcycled into open-air 18–30 passenger public utility vehicles, now called jeepneys. Jeepneys have since been considered as the most popular public utility vehicle on the streets. Prior to the pandemic, they accounted for nearly half of public utility vehicles on Metro Manila roads and offered the cheapest fare for as low as USD 0.16 for the first four kilometers. On average, Filipino families earn a monthly income of USD 542.
When President Duterte declared a public health emergency on March 16, 2020, all public transport operations in Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island, were suspended to arrest the local transmission of Covid-19. It was more than three months later that public utility vehicles were finally allowed to resume operations, except for jeepneys that have not complied with the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.
The anti-poor and unjust modernization programme
Launched in June 2017, the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program envisions a “restructured, modern, well-managed and environmentally sustainable transport sector where drivers and operators have stable, sufficient, and dignified livelihoods while commuters get to their destinations quickly, safely and comfortably.” While the programme offers a promising vision for a sector in crisis, transport workers were quick to oppose its provisions.
Although the programme covers all public utility vehicles and provides a three-year transition period, President Duterte mandated the immediate phase-out of over 240,000 traditional jeepneys by end of 2017. This made many transport workers ask, why pick on poor jeepney operators and drivers?
A look at the Philippine transport sector will show that this is a valid question. The sector has the second highest greenhouse gas emissions among all economic sectors, with 96% of its primary energy supply still coming from petroleum. However, private vehicles dominate road use in the country with the estimated ratio of private vehicles to public utility vehicles in Metro Manila being 25 to 1. According to a commuters’ rights group, walking and public transport make up 80% of daily person trips but only 17% of road space in Metro Manila.
Although smoke-belching jeepneys are widely blamed for black soot and other outdoor air pollution, it should also be considered that jeepneys specifically account for only 2% of the total registered vehicles in the country. This means that potential air pollution and emissions reduction might be more significant if modernization efforts focused on private vehicles. Not to mention, private car owners would also be more likely financially capable of modernizing their vehicles.
The cost of modern jeepneys is also unaffordable, plain and simple. All modern jeepneys should use an electric-powered engine or at least be compliant with the Euro-4 emission standards. Additionally, other equipment like installed cameras, Wi-Fi connections, GPS trackers, and electronic payment systems are required. In total, one modern jeepney unit would cost around USD 40,000–50,000, more than ten times the current cost of a traditional jeepney. Meanwhile, government subsidy is a measly USD 3,300 per jeepney unit.
Compared to taxis, buses, and ridesharing vehicles which are owned by big companies, jeepneys are often owned by low-income jeepney operators or drivers. The modernization program introduces a new minimum fleet size requirement which mandates each jeepney operator to have a fleet of at least 15 jeepney units. Small operators own only four jeepney units on average and usually receive a daily commission of USD 14.00 per unit, which will be deducted from the drivers’ average daily earnings of USD 21.00. This begs the question, how can jeepney operators afford 1 modern jeepney, much less 15?
Without significant government subsidies and other forms of assistance, and an adequate timeline to modernize, the programme will most likely attract large companies, displace small operators, and relegate drivers to low-wage earners. It is for this reason that the programme has been called out as anti-poor and unjust.
“Suffer in poverty and hunger. I don’t care.”
While jeepney workers and other groups held a transport strike in protest of the modernization back in 2017, President Duterte retorted, “January 1. If you can’t modernize [your jeepneys], leave. You’re poor? Son of a bitch, go ahead. Suffer in poverty and hunger. I don’t care.” Despite his callous remarks and later threats of arrest, jeepney workers eventually succeeded in getting the full three-year period, instead of six months, to modernize. But then the pandemic hit.
The declaration of a public health emergency was accompanied by an order for the complete halt in public transport operations from March to May, which affected around 121,400 public utility vehicles, including more than 50,000 jeepney units, in Metro Manila alone. Apart from the USD 100 to 164 social amelioration monthly cash subsidy provided to all low-income families, transport workers reportedly have yet to receive special subsidies or assistance during this period.
When other public utility vehicles were finally allowed to resume operations in June, traditional jeepneys were excluded. They were shocked to find that their franchises were being cancelled or modified for being non-compliant with the Modernization Program, without prior consultation. Meanwhile, new franchises and routes were being issued to large corporations which are investing in modern jeepney units and other facilities.
For the Duterte Administration, the pandemic is an opportunity to railroad the Modernization Program because emissions reduction, cashless transactions, and other modernization features are now even more necessary for the health and safety of commuters. As for the jeepney and other transport workers soon to be affected, the government has so far failed to come up with support measures that can alleviate their suffering from poverty and hunger in the middle of one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Southeast Asia.
Driving the low-carbon transition
It is in this deep sense of injustice that transport workers, workers’ groups, commuters, and sustainable transport advocates united as the Koalisyon ng Transportasyon para sa Mamamayan or KTM (Filipino for “Coalition of Transportation for the People”) to present a genuine alternative which ensures that the modernization is a just, low-carbon transition.
After all, many transport workers have long clarified that they are not against modernization per se, but rather, they are against this unjust modernization that depicts them as either the enemies or the helpless victims. On the contrary, a low-carbon transition, in order to be just, should place transport workers on the driver’s seat, literally and figuratively.
KTM proposes a low-carbon transition with social dialogue at the core — from open and continuing consultations, fair negotiations, to information sharing. Genuine social dialogue will allow both government and transport workers to agree on adequate social protection measures in the form of vehicle and fuel subsidies, concessional loans, livelihood support, and skills training that lead to decent work.
In its advocacy work, KTM unites the concerns of different groups and demands a comprehensive just transition that corrects current injustices in the public transport system, for example by creating a more inclusive space for women and LGBTQI+ people, demanding equitable solutions from private vehicle owners to account for their share in air and GHG pollution, and reclaiming “road democracy”. Road democracy means that public transport is accessible, affordable, and safe for commuters and that road space is shared equitably among pedestrians, cyclists, and public and private vehicles.
Through its concerted efforts, KTM has succeeded in including some of its demands in the Just Transition to a Modernized PUV Sector Bill, which was recently filed in the House of Representatives. Although a long and arduous road still lies ahead for transport workers, the collective actions of groups like KTM spark hope that the modernization need not be abandoned altogether to avoid massive unemployment. Instead, it can be an opportunity to create decent work for all workers in a truly low-carbon and democratic public transport system even in the time of COVID.
Avril De Torres is the head of the Research, Policy, and Law Program of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), where she leads action researches and policy engagements, and manages strategic legal interventions to advance transformative energy, ecological justice, and people-centered development. CEED published a paper entitled Just Transition in the Philippines in 2018 and convened the Koalisyon ng Transportasyon para sa Mamamayan together with other groups in 2020.
This think piece is part of the Just Transition(s) Online Forum. Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the JTRC or its partner organizations.
