The transport strike staged by the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (Piston) Monday only had minimal effect among commuters as it was hardly felt in Metro Manila, said the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Angelito Vergel De Dios, Traffic Operations Center executive director, said based on their monitoring, many jeepney drivers who declined to join the protest decided to ply their regular routes.

However, many striking drivers were seen convincing them to join the strike, particularly in Monumento, Caloocan City; Katipunan Road in Quezon City, Malabon, and Navotas.

The strike, however, was most successful in Makati City, where public transportation was paralyzed for some time Monday.

Aside from these affected areas, majority of the areas in Metro Manila remained accessible by public transport, citing that EDSA, the busiest major thoroughfare in the metropolis was not affected by the strike since buses are not affected by the staged protest action.

“Konti lang, hindi sa lahat ng lugar naparalize ang transport system. Many commuters experienced inconveniences in the said areas but free rides were provided for them,” said De Dios.

In those areas, stranded commuters, composed of workers and students, were monitored prodding the agency to send ‘libreng sakay” vehicles to transport them to their destinations.

The agency mobilized vehicles - 20 multi-cabs, 16 vans and four buses - to roam the metropolis until evening to pick up stranded commuters free of charge, particularly in the main routes of jeepneys servicing the students and the University Belt.

Also, commuters who could not take jeepneys, opted to ride in FX, shuttles, and tricycle.

Striking drivers were seen also convincing the commuters to join the protest against the oil price hike but they were ignored.

According to De Dios, the strikers may have succeeded in sending their strong message to the government and oil companies, but failed to paralyze the transport system as many declined to join them.