Simpleng Pinoy lang si Jarold

Sikit-sikiti lang palihug (please squeeze closer beside your seatmate ) , dili lang nato bilangkaran palihug ha (please don't sit straddling) kuwang pa na og tulo ang wala (the left side can still accomodate three more passengers)

We hear these words inside a Public Utility Jeepney (PUJ) every single day of our lives (Lucky for those who have their own wheels); and our ears are beginning to deafen.

While we the commuters understand the current economic status of PUJ drivers, given the current prices of food and commodities today, we still believe that we as their lifeblood deserve a comfortable seating condition each time we ride a PUJ. Sometime I just can't help myself but scold the konduktor (driver's assistant) when they're being so insensitive to the comfort and safety of their passengers.



Just like what happened in the PUJ I rode earlier tonight. An elderly man was sitting on the extension chair back-to-back with a teenage boy. Two passengers went out a little later and the teenager was able to take the vacated seat. The elderly wouldn't fit, so he remained standing with his body curved in the middle of the PUJ. I told the konduktor to let the man sit back to the extension chair because he might get into an accident. But he wouldn't put the extension chair back; and, instead, he insisted that someone's going to leave in just a little while. Now that's one example of the PUJ drivers and konduktors' insensitivity I'm talking about here. They don't even care if their passenger will meet an accident because of their indifference and stubborness.

But that's not it. They also force commuters to ride and sit even if they will just be sitting a few centimeters of space -just because they insist that each benches fits 10, 11, 12, 13, etc passengers. When the truth is the benches fit one or two passengers lesser that what they're saying. And when we complain about this, they discourteously tell us sakay og taxi para makalingkod mo og tarong, jeep mani (ride a taxi if you want to sit comfortably, this is a PUJ). And then we have the kapyot (clinging in the bars at the back of the PUJ). Albeit there's a regulation regarding this, drivers still allow this because it adds up to their income. What's worst is they allow more than two people clinging.

With all these indescretions going on in public transportation these days, the local government must start looking inot the matter seriously and come up with a strict regulation to put these unacceptable behavior into a halt. By coming up with effective regulations, I can forsee that there will then be a better distribution of passengers to all PUJs. Instead of one jeepney getting an overload of passengers because of the sikit-sikit which only allows the passenger to sit one-fourth of the actual seating space, the kapyots and the extension chair while the other jeepney is underloaded, passengers will now be distributed evenly to both jeepneys. Thus, both drivers earn the same level of income. Both drivers then can bring food to their dining table. Thereby having all members of the family eat three meals a day -no one will go hungry.