here's an article from 2009

Here comes jeepney’s replacement, the Beep
by Roy Pelovello

ABOUT half of the 400,000 jeepneys in the country may no longer be allowed to ply their routes next year following stricter registration standards, an official said yesterday.

Alberto Suansing, chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, made the statement at the launching of the Beep, a combination bus and jeep, as an alternative to the jeepney, a modified version of the Jeep used by the US military during World War II.

The Beep was inspired by the European Gruau Microbus and is a project of Almazora Motors Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines.

“The [Land Transportation Office] has come up with new regulations on the inspection of motor vehicles, and we expect many public utility vehicles will not meet the requirements,” Suansing said.

“I would say almost 50 percent of the jeepney population will be affected.”

The LTO will require public utility vehicles—jeepneys in particular—to have speedometers, hand brakes, headlights and wipers, among other things, according to Joel Donato, head of the agency’s Motor Vehicle Inspection Service.

“We are implementing these requirements with the start of registration in January 2010,” he said.

Suansing said jeepney owners failing to comply with the new rules should start thinking of buying brand-new replacements—including the Beep.

A brand-new jeepney with a surplus engine costs around P450,000, and a new one with a new diesel engine is priced around P600,000.

By comparison, a Beep costs around P1.6 million. The Beep’s body is designed and manufactured by Almazora Motors, while the chassis with its brand-new FUSO Canter light-duty truck engine is supplied by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines. Mitsubishi says the engine complies fully with Philippine emission and safety regulations.

The Beep can carry 26 passengers, with seating for 18 including the driver and standing for eight.

“The first consideration here is safety. Some of [the jeepneys] are accidents waiting to happen, and then you have environmental concerns,” Suansing said, adding the LTO’s new requirements dovetailed with his agency’s goal of reducing the number of jeepneys on the streets and replacing them with the Beeps.

Almazora’s vice president for vehicle sales, Dante Santos, said the Beep could be the answer to Metro Manila’s worsening traffic and pollution problems.

He cited a government report saying jeepneys contribute 50 percent of the pollution in the area, and that the traffic flow there is choked “by oversized jeepneys with an excessive turning radius that usually clog the U-turn slots.”

Around 70,000 of the estimated 400,000 jeepneys in the country ply routes in Metro Manila.

may plano i-phase out ang jeepney dati pa

using the same strategy