Cheap Jeep

Meet the Jeepney.

Is this really the symbol of Filipinos? are we just really surplus parts of a once classic essential with a pun of a name?

After WWII, surplus parts of GI Jeeps we converted into reverse Jitneys. Where Jitneys have seats facing outwards for easier harvest gathering, the Jeepney has inward facing seets, to accomodate simple modifications to the back of a regular Jeep.

But these "icons" have had little to no evolution since their creation. Apart from the change in colors, designs and borloloys, They've appeared resistant to change. If anything, the culture that most of their drivers have has led to a deterioration in its image. Their countless numbers have clogged up the streets, not to mention their lack of conditioning and maintenance have polluted the air around the Metro and then some. Their drivers spit (but then again a lot of private owners do too), and they swerve in and out of lanes like they own the place.

The worst part is that they just stop anywhere and pick up passengers. Actually this is done by all our Public Utility Vehicles (except the trains, of course, as they are bound to the tracks and stop at designated stations).

So should we really be proud of the jeepney? Proud that at anytime, they cause a standstill in the Metro because we don't give them what they demand? Are we really resistant to change?

Think about it.