Jeepneys face scrap heap as Manila targets cleaner air

The most popular form of public transport in the Philippines is also its most polluting and in an effort to cut emissions, the government plans to replace them.

Baguio, Philippines. Jeepneys are as famous the world over as the London black cabs. Mike Young / The National

Exotically painted, smoke-belching jeepneys are as iconic to Manila as the cable cars of San Francisco, the gondolas on Venice’s canals and the black cabs in London.

Beloved by locals and, to look at at least, western tourists, the rumbling, honking and often scarily driven workhorses pepper the country from its capital to its remote towns.

But the most popular public transport in the Philippines is now being targeted for the scrap heap as the president Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernise the nation and clean up its air.

It is a threat Hilario Osmena vows to fight even though his beloved jeepney is peeling green and yellow paint to reveal its rusting hulk. A headlamp is kept in place by makeshift wire while worn seats sag from having ferried passengers around the presidential palace in Manila for 17 years.

For Mr Osmena, 54, it is the source of 600 pesos (Dh44) to700 pesos in daily wages that help to treat his cancer-stricken father, who used savings and retirement pay after years of government service to buy the automobile in 2000. But the Philippine government wants to replace scores of ageing jeepneys with environment-friendly electric vehicles that cost over 1 million pesos each. Drivers say they cannot afford the switch, and staged a nation-wide strike in February, prompting schools to cancel classes and disrupting commuters.

“Jeepney drivers like us will really suffer if the government’s plan pushes through,” said Mr Osmena. “There are so many people who will lose their jobs, and I don’t think the government will be able to give all of them alternative sources of income.”

The standoff highlights the challenge the country faces as it tries to cut emissions 70 per cent by 2030 as part of a global push to move away from fossil fuels. It is trying to balance the need to protect the environment against the cost to the public, which views the jeepneys through nostalgia-tinged lenses as an enduring symbol. As part of a broader plan to upgrade the public transport system, Mr Duterte’s administration is seeking the modernisation of jeepneys, an initiative that has been mooted in prior years.

While details including funding are yet to be finalised, the transport ministry is working to come up with measures to help drivers, including a “very generous” credit facility for the nation’s 230,000 jeepney drivers, says Martin Delgra, the chairman of the land transportation franchising and regulatory board leading the jeepney programme. A “big chunk” of proposed excise taxes on fuel and cars will go to the scheme, he says.

The government is also reportedly considering the introduction of solar-powered jeepneys in a bid to cut pollution.

Jun Magno, the head of the STOP and Go Transport Coalition, is not convinced yet and his group may plan another three-day strike. Mr Magno says drivers may be “buried in debt” if the switch to electric vehicles does not work out.

For Osmena, buying an electric vehicle for 1.5m pesos, double the price of a new diesel jeepney, is too expensive. Mr Delgra says the cost can come down to 1m pesos if the automobiles are mass-produced.

“The poor ones will be the ones affected by this plan,” says Mr Osmena. “The government is blaming everything on jeepneys like traffic and air pollution.”

With jeepneys continuing to be the cheapest mode of transportation even after more than half a century on the roads, they may be around a while longer, according to Den Syahril, an analyst at consultancy FGE.

“People in the Philippines have been very used to driving jeepneys, and for them to just move to electric all of a sudden is definitely not going to happen,” he says. “Who’s going to pay for the cost of the electric vehicles? Governments in this region have a lot of other priorities, I don’t think they will set aside a big budget for emission reduction.”

* Bloomberg

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter