The Mini Heartbreak

(Photo: Daraga, Albay)

It was February 9 and I was on a coffee shop, until I remembered how a sweet life would be if a College boarder like me would go home after about two months of separation from my hometown in Sorsogon Province. It was just a 3-hour ride from Legazpi and I would have imagined the scenery of beaches as well as the mango fruits by the window of my room.

When I got out of the café I was hoping for some unoccupied jeepneys to come along, because I always consider my comfort whenever I ride. Once in the jeepney, my earphones respond as I raise the volume of the music higher, and little do I know that halfway through the journey I was already enjoying the ride and I come into deep thinking, and I guess you wouldn’t want the jeepney to stop at your destination once you feel that kind of snap inside you.

Too dramatic and indulge with music, I called my parents, warning them that the happy virus daughter like me is making heads turn again at my province, but instead of showing me an excited and oh so happy diction, my mother stressed my lack of attentiveness to details regarding the country.

She said “Why, you child. Have you heard the news? There is going to be a nationwide Jeepney Strike”, I responded that I miss the news last night.

This nationwide jeepney strike is due to the petition of combined jeepney drivers organizations and fellows who are concerned for the livelihood of the thousands of jeepney drivers once the initiation of replacing 15-year old jeepneys into e-jeeps has commenced.

This nationwide strike has led to cancellation of classes, other work place, and the tarnished daydream of a college student like me longing for home.

This jeepney strike caused not only the jeepney drivers to put their selves to finally sit down out of the driver seat, but this has leaded almost millions of Filipino paralyzed from their daily way living.

Though it was just one day, the exaggerating feel of doing nothing for one day is pleasing but at the same time uncomfortable, but this happened to be an eye opener for most people, thinking, what if they check out the e-jeeps? Would it be nice for the environment? and also it calls for less pollution.

Yes, those are true but these e-jeeps, according to the news, will cost the Jeepney contractors about 7 million Pesos each, resulting to a huge amount of debt even before the e-jeepneys can be fully functional. This change is good but it needs plenty of attention and work for it to be acceptable.

Jeepney drivers sweat more than the usual office worker just to make hundreds of lives reach a point of their existence, may it be home, office, parks, hospitals, courts, restaurants and other important areas like the future- what I mean about future are the schools, university and other educational institutions.

When I realized that it will be hard for a province girl like me to go home because of the strike, I just said goodbye to swimming in those beaches or eating the mango by my window and just go home by March, anyway my house is always on strike.

Jeepneys are part of the Filipino culture, the color, drawings and names engrossed in its steel, you can see the Filipino world in each of them. It is much better if they stay- repaired and well operated. On the other hand we would want to feel that movie like vibe whenever we ride a famous icon and symbol of this country, the jeepney altogether with the radio on.

(This is a feature article about the nationwide Jeppeney strike in the Philippines last Februay 27, 2017)

Photo by: Kate Austria (photo previously used in The Diurnal FB page)