Woman faints after riding modern jeepney; LTFRB to look into alleged overcrowding

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is looking into a health incident on a modern jeepney that may have been caused by overcrowding.

According to Oscar Oida's report on 24 Oras on Monday, a woman collapsed in the street after getting off a modern jeepney along Marcos Highway in Pasig City. A video taken by a person at the scene shows health workers placing the unconscious woman on a stretcher to take her to the hospital.

The person who took the video also said that other female passengers told them that the vehicle had been packed with passengers.

LTFRB Chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III said that he has ordered an investigation into the incident and to identify the driver and the operator of the modern jeepney unit, "para sa pag-impose ng kaukulang parusa sa kanila at anumang araw ay isho-show cause order natin sila [in order to impose the corresponding penalty on them and we will issue them a show cause order]."

"Matagal na natin silang binibigyang babala na huwag silang magsiksik nang magsiksik ng mga pasahero lalo na't kapag puno na at may mga matatanda at PWD. Nasa banta pa rin tayo ng COVID-19," he added.

(We have long been warning them not to pack their passengers in, especially when the jeepney is already full and there are old people and persons with disability. We are still in the COVID-19 pandemic.)

According to an LTFRB memorandum, a modern jeepney can carry up to 28 passengers: 23 seated and five standing. But several passengers interviewed by GMA Integrated News said the jeepneys take on even more passengers than the limit. "Siksikan, so konti yung nalalanghap mong air, so ang nangyayari siyempre hindi makahinga nang maayos," said rider Mikay Dela Cruz.

(It gets jam-packed, so you don't get a lot of air, so what happens is you can't breathe properly.)

Some drivers, however, favor packing in the passengers so they can clear the higher "boundary"—the minimum daily earnings drivers must remit to the operator— of modern jeepneys.

"Hindi ka rin makaka-boundary kung walang pasahero eh," said driver Efren Tagibao. "Doon ka rin kukuha ng pang-gas at pang-boundary. Hindi ka kikita hanggang hindi nailabas 'yung gas saka boundary eh."

(You can't meet the boundary without passengers. That's where you get the money for the gas and the boundary. You won't earn unless you make above what you need for the gas and the boundary.)

The boundary for the modern jeepney, according to some drivers, could reach P3,500 or more, much higher than the P900 boundary for traditional jeepneys.

Both drivers and passengers, then, are forced to deal with the overcrowding: the former to be able to make a living, and the latter to be able to go to work, school, or home. 

Driver Tiny Manda said that if he packs the passengers in, he is sometimes able to take home P1,000 a day. If he doesn't, he fails to meet the boundary.

"No choice na yung mga tao kundi makipagsiksikan, para lang makauwi," said commuter Dela Cruz.

(We have no choice but to cram ourselves in, just to be able to get home.) — BM, GMA Integrated News