Smile through tribulation: The Philippine Jeepney

This was my entry for the Filipino Heritage Festival Essay contest.

“Para po!” a common phrase typically out of place in everyday Filipino life except in a vehicle that I believe is a Filipino heritage. The humble workhorse and lifeblood of arterial roads in urban and rural areas across the Philippines. Decked out in colorful, religious, historical, and secular imagery. This serves as a reminder to all Filipinos traversing of our shared history and our unwavering nature to take what we have, develop, and make the most out of it. Although not as old as the other Philippine Heritages, still deserves a spot in history as the transportation of the Filipino masses.

Left by the Americans after World War 2, a grim reminder of the war that was just fought and won was turned into a cheap and inexpensive mode of transportation through a country whose commuting infrastructure was left in ruins. Somehow, through Filipino ingenuity and creativity, we were able to turn that symbol and reminder into something definitely our own. Seeing the jeep for what it was, a mode of transportation; I now see it for what it is: a symbol of Filipino’s ascendancy against adversity.

We typically associate Philippine Heritage by our Spanish-Asian roots, although in a way correct neglects the fact that we were also colonized by the Americans. That, we cannot deny and they affected us significantly, from public schools to our Government structure were all brought by the Americans during their colonization. Yet, we don’t celebrate it the same way we celebrate the Rondalla, Dances with meter, and derived from Spain Filipino cuisine. The crux of this discussion is that something doesn’t have to be one hundred percent Filipino or not foreign to become a Filipino heritage.

Ultimately, my proposition that the Filipino Jeepney as a Filipino heritage is not a radical idea. Just like how we took various foreign influences and made it truly Filipino by putting our spin and putting our creativity into it - the Philippine Jeepney is no different. A military vehicle turned into one of the most used, most inexpensive form of transportation throughout the Philippines. The Jeepney was a symbol of a country left in ruins, but through Filipino ingenuity and creativity developed to create a national and even possibly international icon for all Filipinos. The Philippine Jeepney is the embodiment of the Filipino ethos: “Smile through tribulation”.