Jeepney Part II: Si Mang Pandoy the Balikbayan

Here’s another article for our, what it turns out the favorite topic, the Jeepney. Why I say this? We’ll for one reason is a lot of people I know are asking if Jeepney as a transportation business could be a good source of other income. Honestly this is the root of it all. As you can see a lot of us now working earning what a college grad, some with MBA but are getting concerned about their future are eyeing on transportation as a viable resource of other income. Looking at it objectively, yes you see a lot of Jeepneys around, of course this is the Philippines and in here Jeepney’s are a common sight but it does not highly correlate that Jeepney’s can be a source of other income.

In the 70’s when the time of our fathers who had been working as an overseas employee we saw the boom of the Jeepney’s one reason is a lot of Filipino locals thought our fathers can be profitable by selling them Jeepney’s and offering their services as driver / mechanic and as you can see Jeepney’s as a transportation business sounds it could make a profit. Makes sense and sounds like a fair trade, our father’s will not have to toil to earn other income while the locals earn some and provide a service. On the first 3 years the business may run, you’ll say like it was the best decision but after that time the Jeepney’s parts has already worn and this time you really have to pull out heavily on your pocket just to make the business stand, if you have seen a drug addict on his habit this might be the most common reaction on the Jeepney business; after our balikbayan father had spent all his hard earned money for this business and on a very short time its like all his possessions are being pulled out of him, what else would our father’s do?

But still tens of thousands of Jeepney’s are running along the roads of Manila and not only here it’s on every province of the Philippines! Yes and No, maybe a lot of our balikbayan father’s are still being victimized by the Jeepney luring business and not because you see a lot of it means it’s profitable. As you can see on my first article about the Jeepney business you pay more for the gas, in this case diesoline, than what is returned to you. In any business where you pay more than its profit is bad business. Yes if you calculate you will get at most 50% of a units earning, and it may sound good to some but in reality you’ll only get as much as 10-20% of the units earnings, besides the gas you need to buy its parts too i.e., tires, parts, body, upholstery, also paper fees, insurance, everything! Just imagine a car that is ran everyday to about 200km daily! If you’ve own a car you know the car wont last and it will take money for repairs. Surprisingly, tens of thousands of mang pandoy’s pet transport still thrives in the city of Manila, of all the father’s we have known to have made a business out of Jeepney’s either had stepped out after 3-5 years and some may stick to it to 20 years! Then again just maybe many are being still victimized with its lure as a business. Lesson learned: Don’t go with the tide for it will eat you! Cheers!