JEEPNEY: the loud and proud iconic vehicle of the Philippine islands.

It’s the first thing you notice on the streets of Manila, steel glinting in the sun, loudly decorated, and lovingly named—and it’s the first thing you smell, its black plumes of diesel trailing behind. Whether emblazoned with religious icons or pop culture icons, the jeepney embodies the multifaceted Philippine identity. The vehicle’s body is tattooed with hand-painted Native Filipino, Malaysian, Spanish, Chinese and American patterns, visualizing the wildly diverse cultural history of the 7,107 islands. Born from the ashes of WWII, the jeepney industry revitalized the country’s demolished public transportation system by repurposing discarded US military jeeps. The privately-operated vehicles are the cheapest and most popular mode of transport. But the 100% local industry is being rapidly phased out. The jeepney’s fuel inefficiency is blamed for contributing to the 30 percent of the Philippines’ CO2 emissions that come from transportation, though the abundant single-passenger vehicles and luxury SUVs are equally at fault. ‘Greening’ the jeepney has proved difficult: biodiesel is too costly, and electric jeepneys have trouble with heavy loads and monsoons. In other ways, the jeepney has embodied green design since its inception by reviving discarded engines from Japan, and using rebuildable batteries and sustainably harvested coconut fiber in its seats. And then, there is the impending loss of the original generation of artisans. The meticulous craft takes years of practice to perfect, more time than many young people are interested in investing when more lucrative careers are available in foreign-owned businesses and overseas. A unique story lies behind each combination of images commissioned by the jeepney’s owners. Comprised of indigenous patterns, symbolic animals, endemic flora, the images they paint are evocative of past struggles and future dreams. As it stands, ten more years might be all that’s left for the jeepney before the roads fade into another stream of anonymous, assembly-line vehicles.