PHILIPPINE transport groups began a week-long nationwide strike today to protest against a plan that drivers fear would phase out jeepneys, the country’s cheapest ride.

The government aims to replace dangerously dilapidated and old passenger jeepneys and vans with modern vehicles that have safety features and conform with carbon emissions standards. 

The original jeepneys were adapted from WWII US military jeeps. A traditional one could cost the equivalent of between £2,000 and £3,000, but a modern standard-compliant model would fetch more than 10 times as much.

Protesting drivers and supporters held a rally in the suburb of Quezon and then headed in a convoy to a government transport regulatory office in the capital Manila to demand the plan be dropped.

Jeepney driver Benito Garcia said: “It’s OK to have modernisation for those who have money.”

Renato Reyes of the left-wing political alliance Bayan, which is backing the strike, said: “We're calling on the public to support the transport strike in any way possible. The inconvenience of the transport stoppage is temporary, but the loss of livelihood of drivers and operators would be long-term.”