IN a most disappointing development, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) went full catamite in the face of a threatened transport strike by activist jeepney drivers, set to begin tomorrow, March 6, and changed the deadline for compliance with the long-delayed Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) from June 30 to December 31. In a comment on Friday, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista even meekly implied there is a possibility the entire initiative might be scrapped, telling the media, "We can still use the old design [of traditional jeepneys]."

Whether things change between when this column is being written (mid-morning Friday) and when it is published on Sunday is still up in the air, but at this point, the government's efforts to placate the jeepney bullies have apparently been inadequate, as the leaders of the transport groups have said they will go ahead with their strike.

The correct way for the government to handle that, if it happens, would be to immediately terminate the franchise and permit to operate for every jeepney participating in the strike — something that the relevant regulations actually specify should happen — and investigate every one of them to see if there are grounds to confiscate the vehicles. Not only would this be the clear necessary signal that policy intended for the greater good will not be held hostage to the narrow, regressive demands of an inconvenienced small minority, it would actually make the most practical sense in advancing the broader objective of improving the public transportation sector.

The one feature of the PUVMP that has not been emphasized, either to those affected by the program or the public, and should be is that participation in the program is completely voluntary.

Don't wish to upgrade your barely roadworthy, pollution-spewing, unsafe rolling heap of scrap metal? Fine, you don't have to; but the new transportation model doesn't have to be adjusted to accommodate you. Go find some other kind of job. For the life of me, I do not understand why that simple premise is so difficult for people to wrap their heads around, especially people in government who have not only the authority but the responsibility to facilitate the development of safe, efficient and accessible transportation systems.

Removing that part of the country's jeepney fleet — based on figures that have come up in news reports, it seems to be about 40 percent — that refuses to comply with the modernization program will actually make owning and operating a jeepney a profitable venture for those who do.

Contrary to the activists' insistence that the system will collapse if their roach coaches do not operate, the missing capacity will largely be absorbed by the new jeepneys, which have a higher capacity and will be running on reorganized routes. Those who either had the resources to invest in an upgraded jeepney, or took a chance that the move would pay off by taking advantage of the low-interest loan and subsidy program, will quickly be rewarded with consistent passenger loads and reliable income.

A jury-rigged, 80-year-old stopgap solution to provide a semblance of public transportation among the wreckage of World War II is not the basis for a 21st-century mass transit network, and all the reverence for nano-scale livelihoods and window-dressing of the jeepney as a cultural icon will not make it one.

Does the Philippines really view itself or want to be the sort of culture that the jeepney actually reflects? Some years ago, I visited one of the well-known manufacturers of jeepneys, and got a horrifying orientation on just what exactly goes into making this "cultural icon." I am not an automotive engineer, but I am a certified technician (of a rather high level, if I may be so conceited), and what I saw was mind-boggling. Jeepneys, at least the ones that the government is trying to replace, are quite literally built from garbage, and equipped with the simplest possible — and most outdated and failure-prone — basic systems. The most complex parts, the engines and the gear boxes, are purchased as scrap in Japan; meaning that they are technically smuggled into the country, as they are intended to be destroyed so that their metal can be recycled. These are refurbished into working order using mostly recycled parts, and then cobbled together on bodies that are also largely built from recycled parts and materials.

The design and construction process is certainly ingenious, but produces a "vehicle" that has no business being on the road anywhere in the world, to say nothing of being used as a public conveyance, or being considered as some kind of sacred representation of the national spirit.

Unless, of course, most Filipinos actually wish to be regarded as a nation of scavengers who make America's famous redneck culture look sophisticated by comparison.

I certainly don't believe that is the case, but I also don't believe the government will surprise everyone by doing the right thing when it comes to handling the jeepney bullies. By this time next week, the PUVMP, one of the legitimately progressive ideas from the previous administration, will be all but dead; not officially canceled, but consigned to a dusty shelf to be quietly forgotten. I would be happy to be wrong about that, but after so many years here, common patterns become all too recognizable.