Click the jeepney!
"NO TO JEEPNEY PHASE OUT"
A Hyperpoetry
One day, I saw a news,
They say, "traditional jeepney
Will finally say bye-bye,
Through our eye-eye."John says, "we can ride a train,"
Ben says, "we can fly a plane,"
But taking jeepney is a vain,
In the end, it will be gone,
And will forever be bannedBut bro, a change like this,
Is a NO, can't just be thrown,
What we have grown,
Try to have a communication,
And ask for a considerationIt is not just for everyone,
But also for the whole nation,
Removing is not the solution,
We can make a better plan,
And go for the modernizationAs a student commuter,
I will not be a supporter,
Nor an enabler to the upper,
I speak up for the better,
Because I care for the other
About the Poem
The authors decided and concluded to make their hyperpoetry tackle the current issue between the government and our local jeepney drivers—the jeepney phaseout. In this hyperpoetry, the authors expressed their act of standing up for the jeepney drivers and their disagreement towards the said program/bill. The authors also believe that tackling this issue might help in raising awareness and enlightenment that might lead to gathering more support in disputing this damaging program/bill.As far as we understand, according to Mendoza (2023), the decision to modernize the country's local jeepneys is rooted in these reasons: (a) outdated and unsafe design; (b) one of the largest contributors to air pollution. Despite these significant factors, we still believe that the modernization of the jeepneys is, so far, quite unnecessary and a bit inconsiderate as the program does not only affect commuters but most especially affects our jeepney drivers.We stand by the disagreement to approve the Jeepney Modernization Program because of the following reasons: (a) modern jeeps are heavy and unaffordable by average drivers. The government "help" loan of 7 years to pay has 6% interest and 5% equity. Overall, a driver can pay up to P3.4M+; (b) this will pass the ownership and operation of the jeeps to the big capitalists because they are the only ones who have the ability to purchase the necessary 15 imported modern jeeps (P2.4M each) to cover a route; (c) the only ones who will benefit from this are the big foreign monopoly corporations that manufacture cars. This will especially rot our local industries because modern jeeps and parts will be IMPORTED even though there are local and cheaper ways to strengthen or upgrade jeeps; (d) drivers and operators will be forced to raise fares - which may reach P25-P34, just to recover what they owe. This has a great impact on commuters, especially young people and workers who are poor and do not have a living wage. (Villamor, 2023)
ABOUT THE POEM
Aside from these, many other netizens from social media sites expressed their sentiments and disagreement toward the program.
The images are clickable
