Jeepneys galore

Press, 26 December 1986, Page 12

Jeepneys galore

Story and photographs

by

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

Shortly after World War Two, an enterprising Filipino bought a surplus jeep from the United States Army in Manila. He cut it in half, extended the chassis, and fitted a crude canopy-covered deck with open sides and a couple of bench seats along each side. The Philippines’ first jeepney was ready to roll. This cheap and novel form of transport soon caught on. Today, about a million Jeepneys noisily but colourfully ply the streets of the Philippines for passengers. From its humble beginning, the Sarao family business has grown into a multi-million-dollar enterprise employing 350 people to produce 20 Jeepneys a week. Surplus army Jeeps are now no longer available. The vehicles are now custom-built and powered by Japanese diesel engines. Their basic cost is SUS6OOO (SNZI2,OOO), but owners pay thousands of dollars more for the embellishments that have transformed the once austere hybrid into mobile works of art. Brilliantly coloured paints decorated with banks of lights, model horses, mirrors, flags and up to a dozens or more aerials give the Jeepneys their unique character. All are named, usually with a bias towards women and sex. “Sweet and Sexy,” “Love’s Kjss,” "Virgin Chaser,” “Sexy Susan,” “Annie Fanny,” “Sweet Lorna,” “Cuddly Lady,” and “Love Machine,” are but a few examples. The Jeepneys provide a 24hour service, but do not run to a timetable. Fares are probably the cheapest in the world — 10 cents for the first 4km and three cents a kilometre thereafter. Prices for some, however, can vary if the sign I saw on one Jeepney is anything to go by: “Sexy women pay nothing; fat women pay double; ugly women pay triple.” Perhaps there is a message in this for our revenue-starved Christchurch Transport Board.