For the past two weeks, I’ve been enjoying the aircon jeepney ride in the evening. After a long work day in the office, it is quite refreshing to take an air-conditioned public transportation at a very cheap cost.

The jeepney is indeed a level-up public utility vehicle and it just goes to show that we are embracing innovations and change as we geared towards becoming a smart city.

We are known for our ingenuity and Filipinos have invented jeepneys way before the Americans landed on the moon. 

Philippine jeepney invention began as early as 1945 out of the leftovers of the US military jeeps from World War II. The most famous is “sarao”, designed by Leonardo Sarao, which is dubbed as the “King of the Road”. Its unique and attractive design shows the rich and colorful Philippine culture which awed the international viewers when it was exhibited in the Philippine pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

Jeepney, in a way, becomes a “trademark image” of foreigners about Philippines. Every time I travelled abroad the top three symbol that the foreigners will mention to me about the Philippines are jeepney, the song “Anak” and the boxer “Pacquiao”.

So, yes, I enjoy the new air-conditioned jeepney but I can’t seem to imagine the future of the city or the Philippines, in general, without our traditional jeepney, an iconic symbol on how great the Filipinos are as inventors and innovators. 

Another thing to note when it comes to jeepney is the Filipino courtesy between driver and passenger or passenger and other passenger. 

My generation grows up in the days, that when we ride a jeepney we have to be courteous to fellow passengers. We move aside to give space to another passenger. When a passenger comes and carrying lots of bags, we help them load it up and put it properly in the middle of the jeepney. We give way to senior citizens and PWDs to take the corner seat. We always say “palihog” or “please” to request a fellow passenger to take and pass our fare to the driver. 

On the part of the driver, they are always considerate to ensure that the passengers are seated well before driving the jeepney to course. They are also conscious on stopping properly in the loading / unloading sign so that passengers can safely get down the jeepney. Some jeepney drivers will play FM radio stations to provide music entertainment to the passengers.

Courteousness is a Filipino value that is inculcated within us for common good.

However, for the past five or more years, it is really noticeable how Filipino behavior have changed which is quite odd for we definitely have improved our education system to hone better citizens of the country.

There will never be a day, when a passenger will just rudely say only “bayad” or ”bayad ko” without even saying please. 

Most often these are coming from high school or college students who are busy tinkering their phones once they are inside the jeepney and they are too busy to be bothered by the word “please”. Others will just give you their fare without even uttering a word at all for they assume that you will just take it and pass it to the driver. 

There are instances too that the passengers, young and old, are lounging inside the jeepney as if they are the only passengers. They sit with outstretched legs and will never move aside their feet to make way for other passengers. It’s really tempting to stomp on their feet. The others don’t even care at all to make way for senior citizens or PWDs. 

The drivers also have different stories. A huge “no smoking” sign is displayed inside the jeepney and here comes the driver of the jeepney smoking at the front.
There are some drivers who still plays music, but it is no longer to entertain but basically to explode the passenger’s eardrum. 

Worst are the drivers who cannot even wait for their passenger to sit down before stepping on their gear and the poor passenger falls flat on the jeepney’s floor.
Most of the times we simply shrug off the situation but this is our present day reality. Our known Filipino courtesy in riding a jeepney is dying. 

I think it’s high time that we reflect on the deteriorating Filipino values in our society and find ways to address this in terms of strengthening the inculcation of Filipino values in our family and in our basic education system.#