Pope Francis waves as he boards a plane on his way to South Korea, at Rome’s Fiumicino international airport on Aug. 13, 2014. AP PHOTO/RICCARDO DE LUCA
MANILA—Pope Francis riding the jeepney during his first visit to the country next year? Why not?
Organizers of the much-anticipated papal visit are seriously thinking about offering the country’s original “King of the Road” as a mode of transportation for the Pope, who, during his recent trip to South Korea, opted to ride simple and small locally made cars.
Former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa said the committee in charge of the popemobile was thinking about using the jeepney to transport Pope Francis around during his stay in Metro Manila.
“I think they are thinking about a jeepney as a popemobile but without the roof. But nothing is fixed yet,” De Villa told reporters Friday.
The pope is expected to arrive in the Philippines on Jan. 15. He is scheduled to fly to Leyte to mingle with the survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda on Jan. 17. The rest of his visit will be spent in Manila.
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De Villa said the suggestion cropped up among the organizers after the Holy Father ditched expensive luxury vehicles for simple cars—a compact dark gray Kia Soul and a white Hyundai Santa Fe during his five-day visit to South Korea last week.
“The jeepney is just a suggestion since like in Korea, he rode a small Korean-made car. So here, maybe it’s good to let him use the jeepney,” said De Villa.
But so far, the organizers, including the Archdiocese of Manila headed by Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines led by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, have yet to receive word from the Vatican about the pope’s choice of vehicle, she noted.
She said they will know when a team to be sent to the Vatican returns to the country in November to finalize arrangements for the Pope’s first trip to the country.
“That’s the time when they will formalize the events, his schedule and all the peripherals [including his transportation],” added De Villa.
Should Pope Francis prefer to ride the jeepney, she said, two months would be enough to prepare and customize the vehicle.
“I don’t think that will be a problem because if ever, we have two full months to make it. We would just have to remove the roof [and] Filipinos are fast workers,” she added.