Oil firm launches Jeepney Village

A leading independent oil firm has launched a novel project dubbed as Jeepney Village aimed at addressing two of the most urgent problems of the jeepney drivers — housing and livelihood.

Ramon "Chito" Villavicencio, president of Flying V, said the project involves an initial investment of P25 million that will help build 128 housing units for the same number of drivers picked from three jeepney groups at lots made available by the provincial government of Rizal to a private foundation.

Villavicencio said they also intend to purchase, with the help of the Development Bank of the Philippines, brand new jeepney units with the drivers as beneficiaries under the "boundary-hulog" system.

"We are facilitating Project Jeepney Village and the financing to help them become self-sufficient. The bottom line is to give dignity and care to our jeepney drivers," said Villavicencio, who is also president of the Independent Petroleum Players Association (IPPCA).

Villavicencio and ranking Flying V officials launched the project this week following the signing of a memorandum of agreement with officials of the Philippine Confederation of Driver’s Organizations-Alliance of Concerned Transport Operations (PCDO-ACTO), Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operaytors Nationwide (Piston), Alliance of Transport Operators, Drivers Association of the Philippines (ALTODAP), and Makati Jeepney Operators Drivers Association (MJODA) and Academe Foundation, a non-profit, non-stock organization.

"The project is a modest example of how stakeholders in an industry can work together to address two of every family’s most basic needs — housing and livelihood. We hope to create a prototype that others may also adopt and expand," said Villavicencio.

He said Project Jeepney Village is a purely social, civic and corporate endeavor aimed at helping ease the plight of jeepney drivers who play a major part in the Filipino way of life.

The livelihood component will include a commercial center with a gasoline station, full service repair shop, restaurants and retail shops to be operated by the driver’s cooperative or family members of the new villagers," added Paul Tanjuatco, Flying V chief operating officer.

Other parts of the integrated program are the putting up of an educational and civic center for the driver’s families for value formation and skills training, recreational facilities, and officers for a cooperative and the village association.

For his part, Efren de Luna, PCDO-ACTO president, lauded Flying V for its pioneering effort in providing housing and livelihood projects for the jeepney drivers. He described the project as a "long-lasting help from an oil company that goes beyond the usual band-aid types of solving problems."

"Ito rin po ang sagot sa hamon ni Presidente Arroyo na magtulungan para mapaunlad ang ating bansa," said De Luna. "Pinagsama namin ang pabahay at kabuhayan para may pambayad ang mga driver sa bahay nila at umunlad ang buhay nila."

Piston president Medardo Roda also welcomed the development, saying the project would greatly help in uplifting the lives of jeepney drivers. "Isang malaking breakthrough itong proyekto para sa aming maliit na tsuper. Ngayon lamang mangyayari na ang proyekto ay maisakatuparan sa tulong ng pribadong kumpanya ng langis," Roda said.