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I do not drive. That surprises people. I somehow never learned and, to my credit, growing up in and around London and then working abroad, I never really needed to. I now live in Metro Manila and am a rare breed — a foreigner, living and working here, who does not own car. So, I use the MRT, Angkas, Grab, and jeepneys. Why? Because if you do not drive, that is how you navigate the city.
With this in mind, I am increasingly exasperated by our friends at the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Office, particularly with the recent directive, where Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II says, “LTO enforcers…are hereby empowered and mandated to apprehend all Public Utility Vehicles (PUVs), such as Utility Vehicle Express, buses, and modern jeepneys, that exceed the seating capacity of their vehicles and/or seating passengers like canned sardines.”
There are many issues with this statement. One, it completely ignores the issue of supply. Why do commuters cram into the one, solitary, jeepney they can find? It is not because they have some sort of armpit fetish, or a desire to contract COVID; it is because they need to get to the office, or to get home, and who knows when the next jeepney might come? Telling PUV drivers that they may be apprehended or be fined P5,000 if they board more than 32 persons (which they have done) is just not helpful.
I understand the LTO might be reconsidering. Maybe they have realized the issue is not greedy jeepney drivers or “undisciplined Filipinos,” but that this is a classic supply-and-demand issue. Let me, dear reader, give you an example.
Think of poor Kiko: It is raining. He has lined up for a jeepney for an hour. This is the first of four rides — he still needs to take the MRT, then a bus, then a trike. It is too wet to walk. He is tired, he is hungry, he is frustrated, he is wet, he is stranded. Three full jeepneys whiz by, there are no cabs, the Grab surcharge is too high, there is no Angkas, no MoveIts (there are few drivers, try again later), it is getting late, he just wants to get home.
After waiting for an eternity, he is near the end of the line. Then he sees it: a jeepney has stopped to drop off passengers. Finally, he can start his journey home — yes, damp; yes, tired, but at least it’s starting. But, no, he can’t because there is the “sardinas” rule. The jeepney wouldn’t take him. Kiko yells at the driver in frustration, the other passengers push him off, he is stranded, in the rain, in immense frustration…
If the LTO is to be believed, Kiko’s story is the fault of the jeepney driver who lets their vehicles fill up irresponsibly, or Filipinos who crowd on without a care in the world for their fellow commuters.
Forgive me for questioning the LTO, but could the problem not be something else? Could it be a lack of supply, so that Kiko and his fellow commuters have no choice but to cram onto the only transportation they can find or afford?
I am not saying that overcrowding is not an issue, clearly it is. I am not saying that hanging off the back of a jeepney by your fingernails is safe, clearly it is not. I am saying that there is a reason why people cram in like canned sardines. There are simply not enough buses or jeepneys to meet demand. It is not the jeepney driver’s fault, or Kiko’s fault. It is a systemic issue.
If you want to end the “sardinas” issue, you need to improve supply. That requires investment in bus and jeepney services. Cities must be free to provide regular, frequent, reliable bus services that link business and transport hubs. This is not one bus every 30 minutes that departs once full; this is one bus every five minutes (or less) that runs to timetable, taking you from near your work to a hub. In Kiko’s case, from his work to the MRT. In London, the secret to the public transport network is not the overground and underground rail — although this moves millions every day — it is the buses that are timetabled, frequent and go everywhere.
Cities here must be free to institute the same, yet there are Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board restrictions on municipal governments doing just that. Some, like Quezon City, are trying, but it is a constant battle to work around rules put in place to disempower local government units. True, some of the public transport works in the pipeline will help: the Metro Manila Subway, MRT7, the North-South Commuter Railway, restarting the cancelled Makati Subway. But there will still be a need for more busses and final-mile transportation services to get commuters home, on time and dry.
It is hard work, but it is possible to do it in Manila. Other cities in our region, such as Bangkok, have done it. So, this is a plea: Stop the gimmicks, the “sardinas” rules, blaming the jeepney drivers and commuters. Start investing in municipal bus services, increasing jeepney franchises, and living the supposed commitment to public transport first.
Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia and former mayor of Bogota, is credited with saying: “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.” And why do they use it? Because it is cheap, clean, frequent, and reliable.
No more gimmicks. If it can be done elsewhere, it can be done here. Well, here’s hoping anyway. – Rappler.com
Andrew Pearlman is a development consultant who has worked with INGOs, the UK government, the British Council, and the UN. He is a permanent resident in the Philippines, and has been based in Metro Manila since 2016. He is an active member of the Move As One Coalition.
