“Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words, killing me softly with his song…” was how iconic singer Roberta Flack would put it in her 1973 hits song resembling the sad plight of the public transportation system that is dying slowly at the hands of those who knew less of how to be a pauper.
For one, there’s nothing really wrong with the government’s so-called modernization program as the country needs to adapt to the constantly changing times
However, the government should strike a balance between the pros and cons of anything it would want to institutionalize, in this case a modern transportation system.
According to the government, the primary purposes of the PUV modernization program is to ensure the safety of the commuters while on board the iconic traditional jeepneys referred to as the “King of the Road '' and improve air quality by keeping smoke belchers off the roads.
However, what the government doesn’t seem to realize is that they are just replacing fuel-fed jeeps with mini-buses which run on diesel – the same petroleum product being used to run the traditional jeepneys.
As far as safety is concerned, the number of road accidents involving jeepneys are much less as compared to buses. Insofar as durability, iconic jeepneys have proven their worth – having been passed on from one generation to another. It also costs less to maintain the traditional jeeps with an abundant source of so-called surplus parts in the local market.
And as if easing out jeepneys from the roads isn’t enough, talks are underway for the phase-out of the conventional tricycles as the government has admitted considering the idea of pushing e-trikes, raising suspicion of another money-making similar to what was discovered in the PUV Modernization Program.
From a layman’s point of view, the government has a distorted sense of the idea of modernization.
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