Jeepney may be sent as gift to pope

MANILA, Philippines - A jeepney might be sent to Rome as a gift for Pope Francis, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said yesterday.

The well-loved pontiff rode in a jeepney-inspired popemobile for his last mass at the Quirino Grandstand on Sunday that drew around six to seven million people, said to be the largest crowd for a papal event in history.

Tagle said he told the pope that ordinary people take the jeepney in the Philippines as a means of transportation.

“He said he likes it and we might send it to Rome as a gift,” Tagle told reporters at a press conference at Diamond Hotel on Sunday night.

In his undelivered speech at the Palo Cathedral last Saturday, Pope Francis said political and economic policies of the government must be just and inclusive.

The pope’s trip was cut short due to bad weather.

The pope said the poor should be treated fairly and their dignity respected.

“Our treatment of the poor is the criterion on which each of us will be judged. I ask all of you, and all those responsible for the good of society, to renew your commitment to social justice and the betterment of the poor, both here and in the Philippines as a whole,” the pope said.