Culture of the Common Man
In the past, when I have written about various subjects on this site, in the comments the Jeepney has been brought up in the discussion. One vocal commenter has said quite clearly that the Jeepney is not and should not be considered as part of the Philippine culture. In my view, the Jeepney is one of the most strong pieces of Philippine culture that we can find! Why shouldn’t it be?
The Jeepney is the most common form of Public Transportation in the Philippines. Where you would see a bus in most parts of the world, in the Philippines it is the Jeepney that you will see rolling down the highway, or on a rural country dirt road. Just about anywhere you are in the Philippines, a Jeepney is usually just a few minutes away from passing by and picking you up if you are looking for transportation. In Cities like Manila, Cebu or Davao there are literally thousands of Jeepneys plying the city streets, and most of them are usually carrying a rather full load of passengers. You can ride the Jeepney for a fare of P7.50 in most cases, although it may be more if you are going a long distance.
On average, for a Jeepney in the City, you can expect that a full sized Jeepney may be carrying about 15 to 20 people if it is full. When you go out in the Province, that is a small load though! Outside of town, you may get up to 30 people inside the jeepney, plus people will sit on the hood and also on the roof if needed! Of course, people will also be standing on the bumpers or anywhere else that they can find a place to stand! No question, Jeepneys out in the Province are a real workhorse! Some Jeepneys out in the Provinces are loaded down with goods instead of people – rice, fruits or whatever the local product of choice is. Other Jeepneys carry a combination of people and goods. You can bet, though, out in the Provinces it is almost always a FULL load on the Jeepney!
The Jeepney is not only a mode of transportation, but also a personal expression for the owner. Have you ever noticed how Jeepneys are painted up in all sorts of colors and decor? I would venture to say that no two Jeepneys look exactly alike, and virtually every Jeepney around is a work of art in itself.
To show that the Jeepney is indeed an important part of Philippine society and not just a passing trend, the Jeepney has been in use on Philippine streets for about 60 years now! It was first introduced here after World War II, when US Soldiers left many Willys Jeeps behind in the Philippines. The Jeeps were converted to hold passengers, and decorated with a little Filipino Flair, and it has become part of the local culture ever since! The Jeepney is not going away anytime soon either! In fact, as you will see in the photo at the right, a new cleaner Jeepney is hitting Philippine streets – the Electric Jeepney! This new vehicle is currently making waves in Makati, but will be rolling out to other parts of the Philippines soon too.
In my view, the Jeepney is one of the most ubiquitous signs of Philippine Culture. In my view, the Philippines simply would not be the same place it is today if you didn’t see Jeepneys roaming the streets! I don’t ride Jeepneys myself often, as I have a car of my own, but when I do take a Jeepney ride it always kind of gives me a different perspective, and one that I need from time to time.
Hello Bob, We are still here both Jon and I. We just got so busy with the new school year. Specially for me since I got a very different schedule at work.
Hi Mady – No problem! We know that both of you are regulars! Sometimes all of us have busy schedules! We do always enjoy your comments and participation on the site!
Hello Jocelyn that is a funny experience but I can understand the dilema of a very tall person. My husband is not that tall so he fits in like most Pinoys and love it. We also ride a full load bus to Kapatagan, Laak which he was fine with it.
Hi Bob,
I have been reading your blogs since 4 months ago and this is only the second time I posted a comment. I would check your sites every night when I get home from work. I guess I am addicted to your site. Ehem! ha ha ha. It helps relieve my homesickness. Thanks Bob.
I like this site the best because your topics are simple day to day events/things that are interesting to most people, local or expat. I find comments here are both very interesting and amusing. Love the Tomato topic, insects, jeepney, etc.
Jae/Cris/Carmen is definitely a character, a bad one though. I could not help but laugh hysterically at those comments made about his opinion. He might really be a schizo, I think his/her/its other name is BRENDA … for “braind damaged”.
I used to look at jeepneys mainly as a utility. I never thought it will ever make a nice topic to talk about.
Tina certainly made a new point about the jeepney being a symbol of Philippine resilience. “Wow” to that!
Hi Joy Co – Thanks for reading my blogs! I hope you will keep coming back and start commenting more often!
Hi Cris and Carmen. I think it’s not historically fair to compare postwar Philippines to postwar Japan and Korea (your post #26).
Japan had already had a robust heavy industrial complex in the second half of the 1800’s. In fact Mitsubishi was already founded then.
Japanese-occupied Korea (late 1800) was a recepient of the above heavy industry technology transfer.
So after the war, it was easy to rebuild these industries because the knowledge has already been institutionalized. They don’t have to make do with jeepneys.
The Philippines had no such heavy industries even today. It’s still a predominantly agricultural country.
The Philippines has no immediate future in heavy industries. The country has the competitive advantage in the service industry. It should develop it to the hilt.
Corporate culture is at the early stage of acceptance in the Philippines.
This Domestic Helper industry for example is so fragmented (like the Jeepneys). If this was run by Americans it would have already been professionalized, organized, branded and marketed like Starbucks and McDonalds.
It will happen eventually.
>This Domestic Helper industry for example is so fragmented (like the >Jeepneys). If this was run by Americans it would have already been >professionalized, organized, branded and marketed like Starbucks and >McDonalds.
>It will happen eventually
God forbid!! . . . . . I’m amazed you can even think of people like branded products.
Hi Richard – He didn’t say the people will be a brand, he said that the industry will be branded. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.
Undeniably the transportation icon of the Philippines.
No doubt about it, brian!
Hi Bob – My X was born and spent her high school years in Manila. She was in love with the Jeepney. On her last trip she found the traffic jams just too much. No matter what you were in, it was faster to walk. I am only 5 foot 7. I should fit just fine. Just a note, in Tagum there are more tricycles than Jeepneys. I don’t know how you can fit so much stuff in one of those. On a hot day…well I will get used to it. I worked day in and day out in a printing pressroom the same tempture as Tagum and Davao. 50C! No wait! 50C was the real tempture, not the Heat Index like Tagum or Davao. Good bye wintertime in Michigan and hello prickly heat.
Hi Gary – Yeah, I don’t see that many jeepneys in Tagum, you’re right on that!
Don’t worry… I’ve never seen it get up to 50C here in Davao. About the highest you’ll see is 35 to 37, and even that is rare.
Hi Bob – ELECTRIC JEEPNEY? Now, that’s just not right!
What’s wrong with an electric jeepney, Paul?
Something just don’t smell right!
Definitely a common man main mode of transportation. Until the government can come up with enough modern and efficient mode of transportation for the masses the Jeepneys will be around for more years to come. It’s good that they are starting to go electric but still there are so few of them on the road. Cost must be one of the reason. The government must subsidize, lower taxes, give incentives for the operators to replace their old Jeepneys to more efficient vehicles and most of all, get rid of red tapes.
How about the Karetela or Kalesa? Are they still around or are they only for tourist now in most urban cities and maybe still around in the provinces and remote areas? Future topic maybe?
Regards
Hi Jun – In Laoag City (Ilocos Norte), kalesas still vie for the transportation peso right up against the tricycles (not really against the jeepneys which are more “on-the-route” vs. “point-to-point”). Kalesas in the City of Vigan (Ilocos Sur) are used more for touristy-type sightseeing, but do take their share of public transportation vs. tricycles.
A “fun fact” about those kalesas – passengers face forward (seats perpendicular to direction of travel) in Vigan, while they face each other (seats parallel to direction of travel) in Laoag
!
I saw a few karetelas the other day while traveling through Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. The ones I saw (drawn by carabao) were more the private (family) means of transportation vs. public. Can’t ever remember seeing one “for hire.”
Hi Paul, I have never been to Vigan, but have read descriptions of the town as one of the remaining towns in the Philippines that still retain vestiges of the Philippines’ Spanish past. I am a big fan of the Spanish era, so much so that whenever Vigan is mentioned in a conversation, images of stately Castillan homes, cobble-stone streets, and horse drawn carriages immediately come to mind. The calesas of Vigan you mention is a beautiful remembrance of the country’ Spanish heritage. They have them in Intramuros as well.
I couldn’t resist: http://www.angelfire.com/on4/zambalesforum/mestizo_house_in_salaza.htm
Hi Paul, soon Kalesas and its trusted Kotseros will be gone but I think the carabao drawn Karetelas with around for a while as they are mostly used in the farms but they too will follow then the Jeepneys all for the sake of progress. All good things will come to past but will be remembered and not forgotten.
As John Reyes said, it’s a part of our Filipino culture and history.
regards
Hi Jun – There are only a few places in the country where Kalesas or as we call them down here, Tartanilla is used. Here in Mindanao, the only place I know of where Tartanillas are used is in Iligan city. A few places up north too. It’s almost a dead part of the culture, though.
Hi John, Jun & Bob – What great conversation!
John, there’s a surprise coming with regard to Vigan. The UNESCO Heritage City of Vigan is as beautiful as you describe it. (I was there last Friday and, . . . , oh, you’ll just have to wait!)
Jun, I don’t know if the kalesa will ever leave the Laoag City scene. There have been attempts to “rid city streets of this pestulence” but those who ply the streets daily with their steady clop-clop-clop-clop-clop-clop-. . . are as crafty as they are trusty. One attempt focused on the pony droppings hurting the city’s chances for winning its umpteenth million “Green & Clean” City Award. Ponies were forbidden by statute from depositing such annoyances on the public throughfares. Drivers merely remembered the “catch-all bags” of the 1930s (when similar complaints were uttered by the neuvo riche), had new ones crafted from modern materials that matched color & decor, attached them just behind the pony, and the “plop-plop” from the “clop-clop” never hit the streets. The kalesas, like time, continue on!
Bob, I wouldn’t say “dead” as much as I would favor “unused.” Currently there is no sign of let-up here in the north, and the use of kalesas is increasing as feed prices drop below their petroleum counterparts. The only time I don’t enjoy seeing a kalesa is when one is in front of me in traffic. That’s usually temporary as the kalesa soon appears in the rear view mirror.
All, there is an amazing coincidence that I’ve observed when comparing Laoag City (I.N.) and Vigan City (I.S.): the number of tricycles plying the city streets in either town is directly proportional to the actual point-to-point, commercial taxi use of kalesas. In Laoag, the streets are “littered” with tricycles and the kalesas do a startling good business taking passengers away from tricycles. There are far, far fewer tricycles in Vigan, but kalesas are used more for sightseeing and tourism than for actually getting around town.
Personally, I’d enjoy seeing (and hearing and smelling) the number of tricycles diminish in a town, with kalesas as their replacements. I’m a laid-back kind of guy, so kalesas provide a method of avoiding irrational haste. One will always get to the destination, but never before the pony does!
Hi Paul – As I said before.. there are a few places in the Philippines that still use the Kalesa (in other places it is also called a Kariton or Tartenilla). Other than those places, though, it is pretty much dead, no matter how much any of us would like to see it back. Unused? Sure, you can use that word instead of dead. It is currently unused in most places, and it will always remain unused. To me.. that’s dead!
The Tartenilla is not only used up north, Paul. It is also used in a few places in the Visayas and Mindanao too.
The Tagalogs call it kariton, the Ilocanos call it bagon, I think, and both are drawn by carabaos, not by horses. The calesa, kalesa, or caritela to me are all the same, they’re all horse drawn.
The kariton or bagon (carabao-drawn), will always be a part of the rural scene, I believe, as long as the Philippines remains an agricultural country. That means forever. LOL
The calesa, kalesa, or caritela, in my opinion will still be around in some cities as long as there are horses to pull them. That, too, means forever. LOL
Just as the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo had done in 1991 in making it that much easier for the U.S. to decide to give up Subic and Clark forever, the disappearance of jeepneys in the Philippines for me would represent a radical alteration of Filipino culture as to influence my desire to return to the Philippines. Who says that jeepneys are not a part of Filipino culture?
I agree John, it would be a shame if the Jeepney disappeared from the Philippines!
Hi Bob,
Being over 6 foot, I am sometimes crowded in a jeepney, but I still don’t think twice before riding them.
I do remember one rainy day when we caught a ride on a jeepney and I was privileged enough to get a seat in the front or cab of the jeepney. I was able to see firsthand the administration side of the jeepney. Basically it was pick up speed and get very close to any vehicles that are going too slow. If someone slows down or stops in front of the jeepney, the driver would proceed to begin pumping the brakes several times before the jeepney would start to slow down. A couple times during that ride, I wished I was in the back were I was ignorant to the reality of what was really happening.
Indeed jeepneys offer an experience that will help anyone remember their stay in the Philippines.
Hi jakeb – I’m only 5′ 10″ and I always hit my head getting in and out of a jeepney! Ha ha… they aren’t built for you or I, my friend! Ha ha..
Hi Bob, I am 6′5″ tall so I will definitely have problems. I am still recovering for getting in and out of a Potpot in Baybay, Leyte.
Juramie is not a fan of the jeepney after seeing someone robbed after visiting an ATM and boarding the dyib.
Hi Jack – Unfortunately bad things happen. People get robbed in taxis too, but luckily it does not happen often.
Hmmm…I can not see how anyone can argue about the Jeepneys place in philippine culture. It is probably one of the strongest culture symbols the country has today.
I’ve never been a real big fan of Jeepneys because they are uncomfortable, unsafe and they are probably one of the highest sources of polution in the country.
White people like me useually requires a bit more space then the skinny Pinoys whos bones are allmost as flexible as rubber. Then comes us outsiders, we’re stiff, has a few kgs to many and we’re taller!!! That often makes the Jeepney ride very uncomfortable to us, and also very unsafe – the small room and the fact that everyone sit so close gives pick pockets golden ages on board theese veheicles compared to busses. So I have to say – I’m not a big fan of Jeepney – useually I’d rather go for pedicab or regular taxi. But to say that theese transport stars are not a part of Philippine culture is something I have very hard to see, so Bob – Kick those peoples ass and let them see the light! The Jeepney is here to stay
PS: The news of an electric Jeepney sounds really really good – maybe now we can start breatheing again in Makati
Hi Michael – I agree about the pollution! Best thing the Philippines could do is to enforce pollution standards on jeepneys! It would make a big difference, because jeepneys are such a huge part of the overall transport picture here.
Hi Bob,you are correct when you say the jeepney is the workhorse of the provinces. Over here in Guimaras,a rural province,we would be lost without the jeepney. I’m not a little guy,and sometimes I might get a little cramped, but in Guimaras, that is the main mode of travel for the majority of the people here. People use them to haul their bags of rice and all sorts of goods. I love them, and usually get to ride shotgun since the dispatcher in San Miguel likes me (and it doesn’t hurt that I slipped him a six pack of san migs one morning!)
Thanks for the article.
Hi Dave – Nice to hear from you. Yep, the jeepney is the workhorse of the Philippines. It keep people moving where they need to go, and keeps products on the shelves in the stores, and in the homes of the Filipino.
Great article Bob! Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it, David.
Hi Bob, Nice you brought this up. I will not be vocal but to be honest, the jeepney is only a representation of an era (i.e. post war, when Filipinos have to rebuild their lives using whatever the Americans had left). They were being phased out 40 years ago when my family left the country. As a matter of fact, there were buses in my area no jeepneys. Imelda Marcos catered to the jeepney driver vote (she was Mayor of Manila then), revived it, and now all over the place. I remember seeing their replacements then, and were called “Thames” buses, more like open air minivans.
The more appropriate and long lasting symbol of the Philippines should be the banca/balanghay. The design dates back to the early Austronesians (3,000 BC) in the Philippines from where they started their ocean migrations, sea voyages, carried on by other descendants of the Austronesians. The word “baranggay” comes from the word “balanghay” to refer to their village. The balanghay/banca is an enduring symbol of people, the society, etc. Colourful, unique the jeepney maybe, it may not last as long as 5,000 years.
I remember when I was young in the Philippines, the Moro vinta (the boats with colourful sails) and the nipa hut were often used for images of the Philippines, not the jeepney.
Hi AlexB – Personally, I don’t see the jeepney as a symbol of an era, but something that is a strong symbol of the Philippines. We all can have our own opinions on that, though. I also believe that the Vinta and Nipa Hut are symbols of the Philippines as well.
Hi Bob, I won’t argue with your personal opinion. Have you updated yourself regarding the jeepney? It seems come next year, abut 50% of jeepneys will be off the road because they won’t pass the strict standards effective January. E-jeepney don’t really qualify as jeepneys. It doesn’t have the unique grillwork of the jeepney, and it’s so non polutant. There’s also the microbus, the “Beep” (soon to hit the roads). Just like the calesa, the nipa hut, the jeepney will be a relic of the past. But the bangka/balanghay will always be there (the design hasn’t changed much since the ancient Filipino Austronesians.) Enjoy your jeepney rides. Alex
Hi AlexB – I’d be willing to bet you any amount that you want that by the end of January 2010 there is no way 50% of jeepneys in the Philippines will be off the road. It ain’t gonna happen. It won’t happen by 2015 even. Sorry, but there is absolutely no way, my friend.
Hey Bob, here’s the article I came across (Manila Standard, Nov 11 re Mr. Suansing, LTO Franchising)
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2009/november/11/news2.isx&d=/2009/november/11
We don’t have to wait until 2015, let’s see if they actually ever do this come January.
Alex
Jeepneys have helped create the cheapest, most efficient public transport system I have seen anywhere in the world, along with tricycles and taxis. Where I used to live in Australia, public transport consisted of one bus every hour or so (less frequent on weekends) with taxis being prohibitively expensive for anything but very short trips.
Now in Manila I can walk out the front door and get straight into a jeepney that will take me anywhere local I am likely to go for 7 pesos. If I want to travel in splendid isolation I can get a taxi for less than 100. And if I happen to buy something too big to carry, well a sidecar will get it home for 200 or so. I’m still in awe of the way a tricycle carried me, my partner, a three piece lounge suite and a chest of drawers home one day.
One thing I can’t understand is why sidecars are more expensive than taxis; makes no sense to me. However nobody seems to complain.
It will be a sad day for the Philippines if jeepneys ever get driven off the roads. The public transport system represents one of the few sources of competitive advantage possessed by the country.
Hi Ken – The Philippine transportation system is certainly a much different system that I know of anywhere else in the world. Jeepneys have pluses and a few minuses too. The primary minus is the pollution, but that is easily fixed by applying modern technology to an aging vehicle. Easy fix.
Thanks for dropping by, Ken.
Hi AlexB – If you think that having a law will make it happen, you don’t know the Philippines the way that I think you really do. There are lots of laws, regulations and such that exist here which are never enforced. Let’s talk again in February, ok?