ONCE again, jeepney drivers and operators have gone on strike, leaving thousands of commuters composed mostly of students and workers stranded.
Stranded commuters were seen in Commonwealth, Litex, Monumento and Fairview in Quezon City and Santa Ana and Paco in Manila, but normal jeepney operations continued in many parts of Metro Manila.
In Bulacan and Mandaluyong City in Metro Manila, classes were suspended because of the transport strike. The government-deployed buses failed to help ease the lack of transportation because only a few of those were deployed.
The bone of contention, says the Stop & Go Transport Coalition, is the government’s jeepney modernization plan, which seeks to get aging, smoke-belching and diesel-burning units off the road.
The coalition’s president, Jun Magno, said jeepney drivers and operators would not be able to afford the P800 a day they need to acquire new vehicles that would be sold for P1.6 million per unit for seven years at six-percent interest.
He added that not all jeepneys should be required to install GPS navigation devices and speed limiters because those were not applicable to vehicles whose routes were short.
The group also says the government should be blamed if there are still many dilapidated jeepneys on the streets because it continues to allow the registration of these vehicles.
These are legitimate points, but they need not be deal breakers.
The government, for example, says it will provide not just financing but also outright subsidies to drivers and operators who buy the new jeepneys.
At the same time, if we are to phase out antiquated public utility vehicles, we really ought to replace them with standardized, modern and clean alternatives. Speed limiters, if these are approved as standard equipment, should be on all jeepneys, regardless of their routes. GPS navigation isn’t particularly expensive, or should not be, given that this feature is available even on the most inexpensive smart phone.
It is wrong to blame the government for registering aging jeepneys because in the past, it has done so precisely because of the resistance from drivers and operators who want to keep the old clunkers in service. The modernization program itself will immediately correct this situation, as old jeepneys will no longer be registered and will be replaced with their modern counterparts.
Finally, like the vehicles that they drive, the methods by which the drivers and operators seek to get their way are antiquated. What purpose will it serve them if thousands of students and workers are inconvenienced for a day or two? These are not the people who make and implement transport policies. The drivers and operators who punish innocent commuters only do themselves a disservice, and generate no goodwill toward their cause.
Like old and dirty jeepneys, obstacles to modernity and progress need to stop—then go away.
