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Agence France-Presse

Bernardo de la Cruz casts his eyes around the nearly silent workshop where he used to toil overtime hand-painting custom decor on jeepneys, the singularly Philippine minibuses facing the scrap heap.
These rolling art galleries adorned with images of everything from Batman to babies, as well as disco lights and chrome wheels, have for decades provided cheap transport for millions.
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But pollution and safety concerns have led to a modernisation programme, with jeepneys 15 years or older to be taken off the streets by 2020. “This is an act of treachery against fellow Filipinos,” said de la Cruz. “This is a uniquely Filipino product. We were born with it.”
When he began 45 years ago, there were hundreds of artists giving the vehicles their famously boisterous paint jobs. Now there are estimated to be fewer than a dozen left.
He has seen orders decline from a high of up to 80 a month in the 1980s to just one or two now.

His canvas is being replaced by eco-jeepneys, powered by electricity or lower-polluting diesel motors.
Riders of old jeepneys currently have to climb in through a hatch in the rear, cramming into the benches inside with no respite from the heat and roadside pollution.
The jeepney’s successor is being billed as a big improvement. It has doors, individual seats, air-conditioning, and enough height to stand up. But it will be mass-produced and look just like a public bus.
Skipping over the jeepney’s bespoke production process in small workshops means a loss of the individual style and flair that made them global symbols of the Philippines.

“It’s one of the most genuine forms of modern folk art that we have,” said Bernie Sim, a Manila-based graphic designer and co-author of a 2014 book on jeepney art.
French fashion designer Christian Louboutin launched a jeepney-themed handbag collection last year, while Swedish furniture giant Ikea painted a jeepney in its signature blue and yellow to announce plans to open a Philippine store.
But the vehicles, which were first made from leftover US jeeps after the second world war, have been on borrowed time for years.
Jeepneys are highly polluting, and the Philippines is desperate to improve air quality in its traffic-clogged cities. Their drivers are also notorious for ignoring traffic rules, and the vehicles have few safety features.
On top of that, Manila ushered in internet-based ride-sharing services in 2014, and three years later President Rodrigo Duterte said the jeepney must evolve or disappear.

“They have all but stopped making jeepneys,” said 52-year-old jeepney artist Vic Capuno, based in San Pablo town south of Manila. As a result he and a colleague at Armak Motors now paint just three of four jeepneys a month.
De la Cruz worked on nine in the past year. He’s the only painter left at Manila’s Sarao Motors, once the country’s biggest producer.
Two of his siblings were also jeepney artists, but they died from diseases he believes were caused by years inhaling fumes from the paint. Yet he is still passionate about the vehicle’s importance in Philippine history.
“When the jeepney disappears a piece of Filipino culture will also die,” de la Cruz warned.
A self-taught painter, he was inspired by the work of local artists such Carlos Francisco and Fernando Amorsolo.

His jeepney designs, still seen on the streets for now, chronicle the rapidly changing landscape of his home – Las Pinas – from a farming and salt-making backwater into a highly urbanised area.
“It’s a pleasing sight. It brings us back to a time and place that is no more,” said de la Cruz.
After raising four children on the pay earned painting, he now also creates canvases and makes storefront signs as a sideline. He conceded he could have a decent life without the jeepneys, but was heartbroken by the government’s decision.
“I would like to appeal to the authorities not to outlaw it,” de la Cruz said. “At times I cry quietly when I think about what is happening.”


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The Philippines

Philippines’ jeepneys on the way out, and so are the artists who give them their iconic paint jobs

Hand-painting custom decor on jeepneys adorned with images of everything from Batman to babies, as well as disco lights and chrome wheels, have for decades provided cheap transport for millions. But pollution and safety concerns have led to a modernisation programme, with jeepneys 15 years or older to be taken off the streets by 2020. Photo: AFP

This photo taken on November 29, 2018 shows Vic Capuno, 52-year-old jeepney artist, painting in one of the jeepneys at a workshop in San Pablo, Laguna province, south of Manila. - Capuno, a draughtsman by education who went into jeepney painting in 1987, works along with a colleague on three or four jeepneys a month produced by San Pablo's Armak Motors. As the government runs jeepneys gradually off the road due to pollution and safety concerns, artists like him -- and their work -- are going too. (Photo by TED ALJIBE / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY PHILIPPINES-LIFESTYLE-ART-JEEPNEY,FEATURE BY CECIL MORELLA

This picture taken on January 14, 2019 shows custom artwork on the side of a jeepney during rush hour in Manila.   - Hand-painting custom decor on jeepneys adorned with images of everything from Batman to babies, as well as disco lights and chrome wheels, have for decades provided cheap transport for millions. But pollution and safety concerns have led to a modernisation programme, with jeepneys 15 years or older to be taken off the streets by 2020. (Photo by Noel CELIS / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY PHILIPPINES-LIFESTYLE-ART-JEEPNEY,FEATURE BY CECIL MORELLA

This picture taken on January 13, 2019 shows a depiction of Jesus Christ painted on the door of a jeepney during rush hour in Manila.   - Hand-painting custom decor on jeepneys adorned with images of everything from Batman to babies, as well as disco lights and chrome wheels, have for decades provided cheap transport for millions. But pollution and safety concerns have led to a modernisation programme, with jeepneys 15 years or older to be taken off the streets by 2020. (Photo by Noel CELIS / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY PHILIPPINES-LIFESTYLE-ART-JEEPNEY,FEATURE BY CECIL MORELLA

This picture taken on January 14, 2019 shows custom artwork on the side of a jeepney as a driver's assistant (R) calls for passengers during rush hour in Manila.   - Hand-painting custom decor on jeepneys adorned with images of everything from Batman to babies, as well as disco lights and chrome wheels, have for decades provided cheap transport for millions. But pollution and safety concerns have led to a modernisation programme, with jeepneys 15 years or older to be taken off the streets by 2020. (Photo by Noel CELIS / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY PHILIPPINES-LIFESTYLE-ART-JEEPNEY,FEATURE BY CECIL MORELLA

Duterte wants to clear the air, and the iconic Philippine jeepney could be a major casualty

Smoke-belching jeepneys are now being targeted for the scrap heap as President Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernise the nation and clean up its air. Photo: Bloomberg

Commuters board a Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines Inc. E-Trike electric tricycle below a banner featuring an image of Joseph Estrada, mayor of Manila and former president of the Philippines, at a charging station in Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Smoke-belching jeepneys are as iconic to Manila as the cable cars of San Francisco, the gondolas on Venice's canals and the black cabs in London. The most popular public transport in the Philippines is now being targeted for the scrap heap as President Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernize the nation and clean up its air. Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg

A driver checks on passengers in a Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines Inc. E-Trike electric tricycle while departing a charging station in Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Smoke-belching jeepneys are as iconic to Manila as the cable cars of San Francisco, the gondolas on Venice's canals and the black cabs in London. The most popular public transport in the Philippines is now being targeted for the scrap heap as President Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernize the nation and clean up its air. Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg

A driver and passenger sit inside a jeepney in Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Smoke-belching jeepneys are as iconic to Manila as the cable cars of San Francisco, the gondolas on Venice's canals and the black cabs in London. The most popular public transport in the Philippines is now being targeted for the scrap heap as President Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernize the nation and clean up its air. Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg

Commuters hang from the back of a jeepney as it travels along a road in Manila, the Philippines, on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Smoke-belching jeepneys are as iconic to Manila as the cable cars of San Francisco, the gondolas on Venice's canals and the black cabs in London. The most popular public transport in the Philippines is now being targeted for the scrap heap as President Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernize the nation and clean up its air. Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg

Commuters hang from the back of a jeepney traveling along a road in Manila, the Philippines, on Saturday, April 8, 2017. Smoke-belching jeepneys are as iconic to Manila as the cable cars of San Francisco, the gondolas on Venice's canals and the black cabs in London. The most popular public transport in the Philippines is now being targeted for the scrap heap as President Rodrigo Duterte tries to modernize the nation and clean up its air. Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg

Lifestyle

Arts

Travel & Leisure

Jeepneys were first made from leftover US jeeps after the second world war
Those 15 years or older will be taken off the streets by 2020


A minibus modernisation programme sparked by pollution and safety concerns has had a big impact on the artists who hand-paint the eye-catching images that adorn them. From hundreds, their number has dwindled to a handful.


Philippines’ jeepneys on the way out, and so are the artists who give them their iconic paint jobs

Jeepneys were first made from leftover US jeeps after the second world war Those 15 years or older will be taken off the streets by 2020

Jeepneys were first made from leftover US jeeps after the second world war

Those 15 years or older will be taken off the streets by 2020