Molo Conversion Jeeps

If the opiate user from the south pushed through with his marketing mission for giant foreign and local conglomerates producing, importing and monopolizing public transport, small Ilonggo machinists fabricating the jeepney, will also be jobless, not just the 250,000 drivers nationwide.

You cannot see, or rarely see, jeepneys of the design in photos here, but only in Ilonggo country.

The design came after Ford Fiera and Toyota Tamaraw hit the market in early '70s. The roadside shops of Molo, Iloilo City were the first to fabricate them, thus, the term "Molo Conversion."

These small body-making shops thrive and contribute to the vibrant economy because the jeepneys they produce transport goods and people. Machinists don't enjoy govt incentives yet they survive.

The marketing gimmick of big business called "PUJ modernization" with no less than the Duterte Criminal Gang as its marketers-in-chief, is an assault against the people's right to life.

Jeepney modernization will phase out jeepneys and pave the way for entry of e-jeeps.

It's as deadly as EJKs on drug suspects and activists. It is no better than the war that reduced Marawi to cinder. It is as brutal as Oplan Kapayapaan counter-insurgency plan of Duterte.

Syudad kang Yrong-Yrong
Oct. 24, 2017

(Photos below are jeepneys you cannot or seldom find in other parts of the Philippines but only in the provinces of Guimaras, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, and Antique. It is a symbol of an ingenuity uniquely Ilonggo, a design crafted by roadside machinists who thrive inspite of and despite Govt's deliberate neglect for the skilled sector.)

The "modernization" of Philippine public transport merely replicates the
accelerated "modernization" of Philippine agriculture in the '60s -- both are economic assaults or "neoliberal attacks" against the Filipino people.

The former did not improve the Filipino farmer's capacity to produce. The country still remains a net importer of farm products - rice, corn, cassava, mongo, peanuts, garlic, camote, pork, chicken, etc.

Kellogg, Ford, Bayer, Monsanto, Shell and other monopoly capitals, raked superprofits while the Filipino farmer is hooked on US made chemical imports to farm -- and poisons the environment in the process, including itself and loved ones.

Govt was the marketing-in-chief of chemical-dependent farming. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte Oct. 17 in Sorsogon declared the phase out of jeepneys, calendared in 2020, would take effect this January. He used the catchword "modernization" instead "phase out".

The "modernization" of agriculture is "development offensive" that hurt the poor, the majority of Pinoys, that is.

So is the modernization of public transport that drivers and operators are fuming against.
It is but a repeat of agriculture modernization: a marketing gimmick in favor of e-jeeps manufacturers, compradors importing them, and giant conglomerates that will be monopolizing the vital economic activity of public transport.

Let's do some math: an operator needs at least P16M+ to join the business.

It must buy a fleet of seven minimum e-jeeps to qualify, each costing P1.8M. If acquired by loan, with 6% interest per year for seven years, its total cost will be P2.4M.
Who can afford that?

There are still more to rile and rage about but it suffices to say "PUJ modernization is a sham, another neoliberal attack on the right of Filipinos to survival.