JEEPNEYS: PHILIPPINE "KINGS OF THE ROAD"

The Philippine jeepney, with all its atrocious trimmings, baroque decor and kitsch paraphernalia, continues to garner lavish praises from foreign tourists. It is a mobile art piece, a catch-as-catch-can environmental oddity, if you please. A product of Filipino ingenuity, the jeep­ney is considered a Philippine folk arti­fact on wheels.

The jeepney is a World War II relic. A thousand willy jeeps left by the Ame­rican forces were stripped down to es­sentials and converted into passenger jeepneys. Today, the Filipino jeepneys are already found in the world market. Leonardo Sarao, the Jeepney King and the owner of Sarao Motors engages in mass production and spare parts supply.

Popularly called the "King of the Road", the jeepney is the dominant mode of road transport in the country. A study conducted by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication re­veals that jeepneys carry 77 percent of Metro Manila's 11 million passenger traf­fic. In June 1984, the Ministry counted 35,000 jeepneys rolling at any given time during peak hours in Metro Manila. The-same study shows that jeepneys cover a total of 550 kilometers of Metro Manila roads out of 744 short-distance routes.

This situation can be attributed to the jeepney's propensity for jack rabbit acceleration and maneuverability, factors that give them an edge in the grim, some­times deathly struggle to pick up passen­gers. What makes these Kings of the Road more preferable to commuters is that they offer door-to-door service. The jeepneys load and unload at any point on the road, defying signs, policemen and fellow road-users.

Indeed, jeepneys are a traffic offi­cer's nightmare. As a group, jeepney drivers lack discipline. They dart in and out of the street sides in reckless aban­don in the mad scramble to get passengers, violating loading and unloading regula­tions when traffic officers are not around. This devil-may-care attitude makes the jeepney drivers vulnerable to extortion by traffic officers.