Long lines aren’t new to UP students; it’s part of campus life. But yesterday, students didn’t form files to get a GE slot. Instead, numerous gather at stops, stranded after Ikot, Katipunan and other UP jeeps oddly didn’t come their way. This follows after the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) conducted an unannounced “Tanggal Bulok, Tanggal Usok” program at UP jeepney portals which fined drivers a minimum of ₱3,000-₱5,000 for every single “violation” detected.
The Department of Transportation tagged the program as a modernization of transport but in reality, it is an ignorance of the welfare of the drivers and commuters and a reckless sample of the jeepney phaseout plan which will only benefit private corporations who sell expensive, “modernized” jeep replacements.
I-ACT neither coordinated with the university nor did they inform the public. As such, the “Tanggal Bulok, Tanggal Usok” program wasn’t implemented well as evidenced by the lines and lines of stranded passengers. Clearly, rather than improving the transport for the day, the operation only turned into a nuisance for the passengers, with some waiting in line for an hour without getting a ride.
The 10 free-ride e-jeeps provided by I-ACT which had “Pure solar, it just makes sense” enfaced on its side would have actually made more sense if enough of these e-jeeps were deployed so that people’s commute would not be disrupted. A Facebook user has expressed their lament, saying “Hindi sapat ang libreng sakay niyo. Ang daming stranded na pasahero.” The Transport page responded, “Unti-untiin po natin, hindi naman po magic yan na isang bagsakan.” Unti-untiin? Well maybe that would have been a nice thought to have before recklessly implementing an operation that would affect an entire community going in and out of UP.
But it wasn’t just commuters who were distressed. The drivers of course were the unfortunate primary targets of the operation. Caesar Sarmiento, president of the Ikot Jeepney Association, said that when caught and a supposed violation was found, the driver would have to pay a minimum fine costing thousands. He added that if no obvious violation were seen, the Transport inspectors would look through the entire jeep just to find one.
I-ACT conducts its operation as essentially an assault on our drivers. As opposed to helping them improve their jeeps, the Transport department would rather milk thousands of pesos from them for questionable violations. This is all too in line with the jeepney phaseout plan of the Duterte administration which could potentially paralyze public transport as it did yesterday.
Under the admin’s PUV Modernization program, more than a hundred thousand jeepneys need to be replaced with government-prescribed models that cost at least one million pesos — far too expensive for our jeepney drivers who only earn a boundary of about ₱650 a day. More than the exorbitant price, the franchising guidelines also require a minimum of 10 jeepney units to be franchised, disabling independent operators to replace their jeepneys.
Modernizing public transport is not disagreeable by itself; it is in fact only a logical thing to do in a progressing country. But transport modernization should not be seen as in contradiction with the interests of our jeepney drivers. The real criticism about the state’s modernization program is its disregard of the welfare of the drivers (and the masses who depend on them) as well as the undue advantage it gives to huge corporations and multinational companies who will sell these “modern” jeep replacements.
If the state genuinely wants to improve transport and help people, it should hit the brakes on its phaseout activities and begin supporting our drivers rather than thwarting their livelihood.
