round 1,259 protesters conducted a nationwide transport strike on Monday, according to the Philippine National Police ( PNP).

Some city mayors suspended classes and the Supreme Court cancelled work in NCR courts while freed rides were given to those going to work in the morning and late afternoon.

Data from PNP National Operations Center said an estimated 420 protesters from jeepney groups identified with Piston (Pinag-kaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide) and Acto (Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations) converged in three separate locations along Commonwealth Avenue, Novaliches proper and Diliman in Quezon City where they held separate mass actions.

Similar mass actions were also staged by some 170 protesters at the Bonifacio Monument Circle in Caloocan City and along c4 road in Navotas City.

Outside Manila, some 55 members of local transport organizations held protest actions in Dagupan City and Santiago City in Northern Luzon; and 200 in Baguio City, while an estimated 324 protesters were monitored in Iloilo City, Bacolod City and La Castellana Negros Occidental; and 100 Piston members in Caretta, Cebu City.

Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac, NP spokesman, said “common issues raised in the mass actions were the groups’ opposition to the planned jeepney modernization and rising fuel prices”.

Banac said the protest was “generally peaceful”.

“The PNP-NOC did not receive any report of untoward incidents in these mass actions even as all PNP Regional, Provincial and City Police Offices and Stations were instructed to remain in their posts to assist motorists and commuters affected by these activities,” he said. Ella Dionisio/DMS