Philippines Is Trying To Replace Jeepneys

MANILA — In the Philippines, they are known as “kings of the road,” colorful, open-air vehicles with loud horns and diesel engines that ferry millions of Filipinos on their daily commutes. Called “jeepneys” for their origins as U.S. military jeeps, they are cramped and stiflingly hot, ubiquitous on the busy city streets where many riders consider them an icon.

The government wants the iconic rides off the road.

Jeepneys nationwide were scheduled to be phased out by the end of the year, to be replaced by more expensive minibuses under a government modernization program. At a price of $43,600, the new replacement vehicles are more energy-efficient, comfortable and safe. But many jeepney drivers say they can’t afford them, and not having a vehicle would mean the end of their livelihood.

They also dislike the program’s approach to helping them afford the minibuses. The plan would require jeepney drivers to form a cooperative to borrow funds from government banks to purchase the new vehicles. These cooperatives would then operate on a profit-sharing scheme, a model that drivers say will eat into their earnings and bury them in debt.

The plan was introduced by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017, who said the phaseout would help improve Manila’s poor air quality and ease gridlocked traffic. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has agreed to move forward with the contentious proposal.

A brief work stoppage was held last month in Manila to protest the plan.

In a country with a weak public transportation system, jeepneys are more affordable than taxis and have been a preferred transportation option for decades, especially among poor Filipinos, who live off crude roads that traditional taxis don’t service.

Vince Tabing, a telecommunications executive, comes from a family of jeepney makers and says he owes his success to the vibrant jeeps. Mr. Tabing, 49, remembers a childhood spent in his grandfather’s garage, Tabing Motors, which built jeepneys for a half a century until the mid-1990s.

“To own a jeep is like owning a carabao,” Mr. Tabing said. “A driver depends on it for livelihood much like a farmer depends on the beast. To say to a farmer that using a carabao which he bought with 80 percent of his life’s savings is no longer allowed and should be replaced by a tractor three times the price, is insane.”

Mr. Duterte once announced that the phaseout would happen by 2018, but the country’s transportation department pushed back the deadline after drivers organized a strike.

Teodoro R. Ballaran Jr., a former driver who now oversees the operation of four jeepneys, said he opposes the modernization plan because only rich businessmen stand to earn from it. His fleet of vehicles brings in less than $100 dollars a day, he said. A ride costs about 22 cents.

Still, that money has helped Mr. Ballaran, 69, send his three children to college. “And the government just wants to take them away?” he said of the classic jeepneys.