After getting vaxxed, PUV drivers in Pasig City get a free meal — from a jeepney soup kitchen

You’ve likely heard of food trucks, but have you heard of a fully functioning kitchen inside a jeepney?

Transport drivers and their families from Pasig City were able to receive a free meal from a jeepney soup kitchen thanks to Rise Against Hunger Philippines (RAHP), the first and only national foodbank in the country.

The project is in support of Kain Tayo Pilipinas movement, a private sector initiative to help solve the hunger problem experienced by more than 30 million Filipinos.

The mobile soup kitchen project is able to serve 500 people each day. The pilot was launched at the Pasig Elementary School,  where PUV drivers and their families were treated to bowls of arroz caldo and received their COVID-19 shots, donated by the San Miguel Foundation.

“In our mission to support the nutritionally at-risk, this program enables us to step up and meet the rising challenges of hunger and malnutrition in the face of this pandemic,” explains RAHP’s executive director, Jomar Fleras.

Fleras chose the jeepney for the flagship model which was refurbished with a full-functioning kitchen. “It should be something that everyday Pinoys can identify with,” he explained. The jeepney’s exterior features a unique sticker skin, a collaborative effort with Manila’s top creatives. 

Jeepney soup kitchen’s design: a Sarimanok bringing food to the people

RAHP tapped architect Deo Alam for the jeepney’s design, who conceptualized a modern version of two Sarimanoks meeting at the front of the jeep.

Alam said that they were inspired by the image of the sarimanok, which typically carries a fish by its beak, and wanted to reinterpret it as a sarimanok bringing food to the people.

“We wanted the design to be inclusive and easily appreciated by all Filipinos across the board. So we decided to go for the Sarimanok because it is a figure that has already emerged in the popular scene during the 90s, it is recognizable and relatable.”

Alam took the lead in putting together the overall graphics for the jeepney’s exterior stickers. The design also paid tribute to cartoonist Mauro Malang Santos by incorporating his signature Pinoy characters into the design, done by DADA team member Nikko Arbillo.

Fashion designer RJ Santos also lifted graphics from his own portfolio to create a whimsical wallpaper that borders the jeepney’s main body. 

The mobile jeepney mobile soup kitchen project is supported by the Global Foodbanking Network, AXA Philippines, Ingram Micro, San Miguel Corporation, and various members of Pilipinas Kontra Gutom.

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