Jeepney's Makeshift Gas Tank

I like to ride in the  front seat whenever I take the jeepney but on September 14th I was told I needed to sit in the back despite the front seat being empty. The problem? The driver had a makeshift gas tank sitting on the floor. 

How is that legal? I am pretty sure it's not legal. In fact I would bet more than half of the jeepeny's in town are not up to code. Too many bellow thick black clouds of exhaust and I have seen this same makeshift gas tank set up before.

Behind the driver's set was a huge jug of yellow liquid that looked like gasoline. He told me it was water. 

Maybe it is, maybe it's not. I sure would not want to get in a situation hoping that thing doesn't explode. On October 4th I encountered the same thing!

Just look at that bad boy!!! It certainly is bad. And illegal!  But most of all dangerous. Jeepney modernization my hurt some drivers but it is desperately needed. 

The New Normal Jeepnies, Tricycles, and Taxis

The new normal is here and in Manila that means no jeepnies.  But where I live jeepnies are allowed though they have been modified. Let's take a look.

Each jeepney has its seats partitioned so that only 12-8 people, depending on the size of the vehicle, can ride at a time. This is good because it stops crowding. Having twenty people squished together is dangerous. But with less riders the price has increased. A 7 peso ride is now a 10 peso ride. However payment is still made the same way: in cash! And it's handed down from the passengers to the driver. So in that respect nothing has changed. You're just ensconced in plastic!

To pay the driver you stick your hand through that little slot and physically place your coins in his palm. Sure every one is wearing a mask but money is still literally changing hands. I guess that's why this driver wore gloves.

Every jeepney requires all riders to wear a face mask and some even have bottles of alcohol hanging from the ceiling for passenger's use. Here is what an empty new normal jeepney looks like:

Now if you haven't guessed the new normal for public transportation means partitioning the riders from each other and from the driver. Here is how the tricycles manage this partitioning:

I don't ride tricycles but I have a hunch they don't take cashless payments. You still have to hand the driver your money. Not all tricycles have installed a plastic divider in the back but most have.

The same partitioning is also seen in the new normal taxis.

What good is it to have the plastic installed if the entire driver's seat is not blocked off from the passenger seat? Why allow that little bit of space? Same goes for the front.

What's the point if the whole seat is not blocked off? 

So this is new normal as far as public transport goes. It's not too terrible. In the case of the jeepnies this forced limitation on passengers is a good thing. No more overcrowding!

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/05/tales-from-jeep.html

Why not allow this jeepney modification in Manila? It might make things a whole lot easier.

Fixing Jeepney Brakes in the Middle of Road

I will never understand jeepney drivers who break down in the middle of the road and rather than push the car to the curb attempt to fix it right then and there. Look at this idiot inconveniencing everyone and causing traffic jam at an intersection no less.  An intersection!

How about instead of taking off that tire and beginning repairs he and his woman pushed that jeepney into the gas station that is literally right there? It's not like he is trying to jumpstart the battery or reconnect a few frayed wires either. No, no, no.  He is doing a brake job!  A brake job in the middle of the road at an intersection! 

When I drove by an hour later he had ceased all work but the jeepney was still there in the middle of the road. What a jerk.

Picture of the Week: A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

Everyone sing along with Zazu:

♫ I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts deedlee-dee
There they are, all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head ♫

Well that is way more than just a bunch of coconuts.  It is an entire jeepney stuffed chock full of them! No room has been left for the men who I assume harvested these coconuts. They have to hang on the back for their dear lives. Hopefully none of the coconuts roll off the top or out the windows and into oncoming traffic. That would not be very lovely.

Man Run Over By Jeepney

This picture was sent from an eyewitness to the aftermath of the event. A man was run over by a jeepney in front of the mall.

I don't know anymore than what is shown in this picture. Hopefully he did not die.

Jeepney With No Working Windshield Wiper

It wasn't the jeepney ride from hell. It was just business as usual riding the cheapest form of public transportation in the Philippines. I should have been tipped off when the driver turned the key and it took about 30 seconds for the engine to rumble to life that this ride was going to be special.

The tropical storm brewing finally broke and the rain began steadily drizzling down but the jeepney did not have functioning windshield wipers to whisk the water away. It did not even have windshield wipers. It had a windshield wiper. Just one.

Look at that solitary wiper blade. Frozen in place. Not moving an inch. Not wiping away the water so the driver can see. Many jeepneys have only one wiper but at least they work. This one did not. 

Very clear and safe vision. I'm sure the driver has been at this game so long he can tell which blur is which. If not he can just stick his out the door and squint. Who needs functioning windshield wipers anyway? Safety is for babies.

Along the way he stopped to get gas and of course he did not turn off the engine.

Actually in the Philippines nobody ever turns off their vehicle when they fill up. No big deal though. It's not as if there could be an accidental ignition and a huge explosion. This driver might have had a hard time getting the engine to start if he had turned it off.

But who cares. I got to my destination safely right? Isn't that all that matters?

Street Kids Harassing Jeepney Riders

Don't be fooled by the wide-eyed, dirty urchins you see roaming about begging alms whether by hawking towels or handing out envelopes or by holding out their hands and saying, "Give me money." These children can be wild animals.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1030634/street-kids-rob-harass-jeepney-passengers-in-macapagal-avenue

(The kids begging for alms went inside the jeep. There were about 12 to 15 of them in the group. Suddenly there was a commotion in the jeep. The kids were able to steal from the passengers and one mother, who was with her child, was also affected). 

“I first noticed those kids hanging out under a tree, there were about 12 to 15 of them,” said Bagatcholon. “When the stoplight hit and the cars slowed down, the group went inside the jeep, I believe they were asking for alms [because] my cousin said they handed out a box.”

Bagatcholon shared that the kids got rowdy after a few seconds and the passengers inside the jeepney started shouting. Bagatcholon then said that one of the kids, a girl with cropped hair, got off the jeepney and started hitting the woman with a child. The kid, too, started banging on the jeepney’s sides. 

As per Bagatcholon, the kids “stole junk food and a piece of clothing from the passengers.”  

Bagatcholon also said that there weren’t any law enforcers around the area to quell the ruckus.  

He said, “Everyone was in their cars. There was a bus though, but no one ever tried to stop them. Not even the jeepney driver went down to reprimand them, he just looked back at the commotion.”

It's doubtful these kids know they are fully protected by the law and will never be held accountable for any crime they commit.

SEC. 6. Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility. – A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. However, the child shall be subjected to an intervention program pursuant to Section 20 of this Act.

http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2006/04/28/republic-act-no-9344-s-2006/

What kind of intervention program will these kids be subjected to:

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1032485/breaking-street-kids-who-ganged-up-elderly-jeepney-passenger-nabbed

Operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) have rounded up the street kids who mugged an elderly jeepney passenger on Taft Avenue. 

The incident was caught on video that went viral on social media on Friday. 

Based on a report by the MPD Station 5, the incident took place Friday at 1:15 p.m. along Taft Avenue near Pedro Gil, Paco, Manila.

Watch as these kids pull an old man out of the jeepney and try to steal his bag.

Notice how that man is left all on his own?  None of the other passengers offer any help nor does the driver get out and fight off the children.  Passers-by keep passing by. Absolutely no assistance of any kind was offered to this old man.

In the Philippines you are all on your own.

If you ever see a group of street children it's best to pick up a stick and be prepared to fight to the death. Or just get out of their way and avoid them altogether.

Old Lady Clipping Her Fingernails on the Jeepney

Over the din of the rattly old jeepeny and of the podcast I am listening to I hear the faint click, click, click, of which I know is the distinct sound of someone clipping their fingernails. I turn my head looking for the culprit and sure enough there she is, an old lady intently staring at her hand and clipping away at her fingernails as the jeepney speeds on down the road.

When she is done clipping her nails she brushes the little quarter moons onto the floor of the jeepeny scattering them like stars in the sky. It is the formation of a Milky Way only those of us riding in that particular jeepney on that exact day at that exact time will ever witness. The air rushing in from the open back door and along the floor will soon blow these lifeless pieces of her body into places as yet unknown, a cataclysm destroying forever the world she has created for only a moment. 

Like nail clippings in the wind so are the days of our lives. We grow and grow until we are clipped by the black nail cutter who will clip us all never to be again.

As I alight at my stop and walk away a bemused smile crosses my face as I remember the old lady I once saw in church clipping her nails. Nobody turned their head. Nobody told her to please stop. The preacher continued preaching his sermon and everyone acted like they did not hear the metallic snap, snap, snap of the nail cutter as the old lady trimmed her nails in church just as if it were a salon.

It must be an old Filipina thing to clip ones' nails in public spaces.

Electric Pole Falls on Jeepney

I don't know how it happened but no one was hurt.  

From the looks of it the electrical pole buckled under it's own weight as the concrete base crumbled which lead to the fall.

By the time I arrived it was obvious this scene was not new. But where was the electric company? Who is this guy hooking up the pole to the backhoe? He is not from the electric company. There was also only one cop on the scene and he was not doing anything but looking around. Why weren't there more cops directing the flow of traffic away from the wreck?

By morning a new pole had been installed. This time off the sidewalk.

An electric pole fallen on top of a vehicle or in the middle of the street is something I knew I would see sooner or later. They are all rotten and in state of disrepair. It's surprising that they haven't all fallen down.

Jeepney Repair in the Middle of the Road

In the Philippines when your vehicle breaks down in the middle of the street it is best to fix it right then and there without moving it out of the way. After all it's only a small thing. A problem quickly fixed.  You won't be long.  

I wonder what the trouble is. Maybe it's not too serious. Just a little overheating or something. Or perhaps a loose fan belt.

What do you think that guy on the motorcycle is doing? Looks like he and the jeepney driver are talking. Is he offering to help push the jeepney out of the road?  Just to the left and out of the camera frame is a gas station.  They could push it there and then proceed with the repair.

Well it's been two hours and the front wheel is off which means this guy is going to be tying up traffic for a long time. But it's not a problem because fixing his vehicle is way more important than worrying about a little thing like blocking the intersection.

How many times have you seen a jeepney just like that, with the wheel off and the seat acting like a warning barrier, parked in the middle of a busy street causing traffic to slow down and back up all because the driver is too inconsiderate to push his broken vehicle out of the street? I have seen this scenario too many times for it to not be a cultural thing.

Jeepney Art 4

Look at what we have here!  It's more Jeepney art.

Jeepney Art 3

Time for some more jeepney art.  Enjoy!

Jeepney Danger

Accidents don't "just happen."  That is safety 101.  Wearing protective equipment, making sure all safety precautions are taken, following the rules, these are the ways accidents are prevented before they happen.  But if you routinely buck the rules and ignore common sense then you are only one thread away from death or grave injury.

Road safety in the Philippines is non-existent.  No one follows the rules.  And no one enforces them either.  There are no police patrolling the streets looking for speeders, drunk drivers, cars without headlights, or anyone else driving unsafely.  In the Philippines when you get on the road you put your life in your own hands.  Be sure to buckle up.

Jeepnies are some of the worst offenders when it comes to ignoring safety practices.  They overload the jeepny and then they allow people to stand outside hanging on for miles and miles as if it's no big deal.  It is a big deal. It shows a complete disregard for the safety and life of the passengers.  It's an accident just waiting to happen.  

And it's 100% totally preventable.