On first day of transport strike: Piston wants traditional jeepney rehab, not phaseout

MANILA, Philippines — The traditional jeepney fleet should be preserved and restored rather than scrapped.

This is the call of the Piston, one of the biggest transport groups in the country, that spearheaded the week-long jeepney strike nationwide, which began on Monday, March 6.

“Ang panawagan po natin dito sa modernization program ay dapat hindi tanggalin yung ating mga traditional jeepney, yung ating mga UV (Utility Vehicle), kundi dapat itong i-rehab,” said Piston national president Moly Floranda.

(Our call with this modernization program is that the traditional jeepneys and UV (Utility Vehicles) should not be eliminated but instead rehabilitated.)

Floranda said individual operations could not afford to pay more than P2 million for modern jeepneys.

“Hindi po kaya ito ng mga indibidwal na mga operator,” Floranda said.

(The individual operators can’t afford it.)

He said the operators could spend less rehabilitating a traditional jeepney to comply with the Department of Transportation guidelines.

Based on the DOTr guidelines, a modern jeepney should be less than 7 meters long, with door locations allowing boarding and alighting only from the curbside, not from the rear.

Floranda said around 100,000 jeepney drivers are expected to join the strike, including the 40,000 plying the routes of Metro Manila.

JMS/abc