Jeepney Chic

Photo by Henna Garrison

So far I've neglected to mention jeepneys, I think, which is a horrific oversight largely due to the fact that I am now a car-owner and have not yet ONCE ridden on a jeep since we moved here. I'm not sure they'll let me keep my residency card unless I get on at least one this school year. I'll work on it. Jeepneys were originally remaindered American jeeps from World War II that quickly were duplicated by local chop shops, and viola...a new cottage industry emerged. The Philippines manufactures a lot of cars these days, but jeeps are made in locally-owned and operated workshops that are more artisanal than industrial. They are used as public transport vehicles and currently an average ride (which can take you almost all the way across the city) costs 7.5 pesos.

My favorite tour guide and resident performance artist, Carlos Celdran, uses the Jeepney as a metaphor for Filipino style sense: the more decoration, the better. Throw as many colors, illustrations, and names of your children or god-children as you can--and a good Biblical quote or God reference for good measure--and you've got classic Jeepney chic. Now, some say that the decorations have become a bit too pre-fab, that the artistic efforts just aren't what they used to be, and maybe that's true. But as Henna's photo shows, taken just at dusk which gives it that almost neon glow, they still got style.