Dave Achondo HAVE you ever been waiting for a jeepney so long that you opted a more expensive public vehicle to take you from Point A to Point B? I have. Monday’s strike took a very gruesome toll on all commuters, including myself. I was at Cogon waiting for an RD jeepney to come and stop to pick up passengers but due to the strike, it took me almost two hours or less to decide, to go to JR Borja and take a motorela instead. Even taxis were unavailable. Compared to other transportation strikes, it was definitely different, and the concern raised was more serious. The strike started at 4 am and its effects were felt till 9 pm. I wondered why it took so long for the jeepneys to resume operations when, based on our experience in recent years, no public transportation strike here lasted till 6 pm. I say they have something more at stake now. This is, after all, their livelihood. Monday’s strike crippled as much as 85 percent of public transportation in this city, and something like that happened, too, across the country. What were they fighting for? It wasn’t because of the sudden rise in the prices of fuel but because of the threat of a phaseout of 15-year old jeepneys or older. I can understand the sentiment of the jeepney operators and drivers because that there is really no such thing as a brand new jeepney. “Ma-phaseout ang tanan jeep na idaran na delikado najud na kay bisag pa tsada tanawon ang gawas sa usa ka jeep, ang makina ana surplus, ug panalagsa pa gani lagpas pa sa 20 years ang edara,” a mechanic told me. I can agree that the plan to phase out the jeepneys is premature. Is there a company that could provide brand new engines for these machines? The bodybuilding of jeepneys is easy but looking for a worthy engine is another. To them (drivers and operators), as long as it runs and performs the task, it is okay. The government wants to prevent accidents from happening. Its concern is on public safety. Recall what happened in Indahag in late December. A teenager died while 20 others were injured due to a faulty and old jeepney that supposed to have been sent to the junkyard 10 years earlier. My mechanic-friend said the accident happened because the operator and the driver did not check the breaks and other gears. At this stage, I suggest that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) inspect properly and regularly the road worthiness of jeepneys if only to prevent accidents. I have observed that many of our jeepneys do not even have break lights or signal lights, and don’t even have speedometers. The government should slap these erring jeepney operators and drivers with stiff fines. If the government wants to prevent accidents or loss of life, they should start by implementing and enforcing the basic rules and regulations for vehicles. The law should be implemented. The agencies should start banning these public vehicles, and start firing the people in government who allowed this to continue. It is basic for any vehicle to have headlights, break lights and signal lights. It’s common sense. Before you get your license, you understand that vehicles without the following have no place on the road in the first place. People begged for change, but how can they change when the government itself could not change? They perform at their best when someone is looking at them but when no one is looking, they work like maggots, snails and turtles.