Hail the Jeepney Queen

Clang Garcia cannot explain her almost fanatical fascination for jeepneys. There’s nothing in her childhood that can explain the psychology behind her deep appreciation of these public transport vehicles dubbed as the “King of the Road” in the Philippines.

“I was probably a jeepney driver in my past life,” the dusky and attractive Clang said in jest on the eve of the first Jeepney Arts Festival held recently at the open grounds of SM Mall of Asia.

A probe deeper into her psyche will reveal that the heightened interest of Clang, the managing director of a company called The Jeepney Tours, on jeepneys is directly anchored on her simple and sincere love for her country.

“If you talk to foreigners about Manila, the first thing that comes to their minds is the jeepney. The jeepney is our very own cultural and automotive icon. We have to be proud of it and take care of it. If no one will initiate a program to save it, it will die. Its story is the story of our people, of our nation,” Clang said.

It was this love for this Philippine road icon that led Clang to organize the Jeepney Arts Festival. Clang said the festival “is a rehabilitation drive to revive the dying art of Philippine jeepneys.” With the following objectives, the project was successfully executed: paint 50 passenger jeepneys with stunning tourism destinations; revive the Filipino values of bayanihan by sharing one’s artistic skills to help paint the jeepneys; unleash the creative excellence of the Filipino people; make Manila a roving museum of arts and culture; and celebrate our own pride.

‘The jeepney is our own cultural icon. We have to be proud of it,’ says Clang Garcia.

The paint-a-jeepney project gained so much interest and support from various groups that professional artists and even those talents in wheelchairs participated in the rehabilitation of the Philippine jeepneys. Even the gifted abandoned children from the Shepherd of the Hills took their paintbrushes to the venue and painted flowers and Tagaytay scenes on the two jeepneys assigned to them. For these street children, the painting activity was a healing of sorts because they used to sleep in jeepneys, their former home and shelter in Metro Manila.

“There were about 150 artists who converged for this bayanihan project to revive our folk arts to promote tourism,” Clang said. “These jeepneys were again turned over to their respective owners and are now back on the road, plying their original route in the city.”

To implement the project, Clang tied up with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP). The FEJODAP identified 50 jeepneys that passed the emission test of the MMDA. Clang did not only look for paint and gasoline sponsors for this project, she also found kind-hearted people who would shoulder the daily boundary of the drivers while their jeepneys were under her care for five days.

Part of this advocacy is that the drivers were required to get a comprehensive training program on values formation, Philippine history, culture of tourism, passenger handling and road ethics while their jeepneys were in the jurisdiction of the Jeepney Arts Festival committee. The trainings were conducted by the Department of Tourism. 

After all the jeepneys had been painted with beautiful Philippine scenery, they were paraded on EDSA and Ayala Avenue. Sonya Garcia, of Sonya’s Garden, joined the parade and even decorated a jeepney with white upholstery, white curtains, throw pillows and flower vases. 

Clang, also the public relations officer of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA), said the Jeepney Arts Festival is the social investment of her company, the Jeepney Tours, which was formed in 2007. The Jeepney Tours is a tourism breakthrough that offers daily city tours onboard a custom-built, air-conditioned jeepney with videoke system and cooler in tow.

Her company offers a jeepney ride experience to foreign travelers and takes them to the fascinating sights of the city and the countryside.  

“We have a tour guide garbed in Filipiniana as we are trying to promote a local experience of visiting Manila and create a positive impression, one trip at a time,” added Clang, who finished AB Mass Communication minor in BS Commerce at St. Scholastica’s College. In school, she was given the Gabriela Silang Award for upholding the rights of women. 

She said the Jeepney Tours has three jeepney units, each with 20 seating capacity, that ply thematic tours like the “Intramuros Heritage Tour,” “Spa and Shopping Spree,” “Tagaytay Wellness Tour,” “Jeepney Adventures: Surfing 101” and “Jewelry Tour.”

Though the tours are tailor-fit for the foreigners, local tourists, Clang said, also avail themselves of her company’s affordable services. “Normally for the locals, the popular tour they avail themselves of is the ‘Videoke Jeepney Party.’ They rent it out to roam around the city while they belt out their favorite songs,” she said.

For Clang, her deep love for restoring the jeepney art is her commitment to her country. She is resolute in her belief that the Philippine jeepney is an icon of true Filipino artistry, ingenuity, resiliency and entrepreneurship.

Hail the Jeepney Queen!

(For more information, call 994-6636, send an e-mail to info@jeepneytours.com or log on to www.jeepneytours.com.)

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