Members of the passenger jeepney organization Piston tote protest placards at Monumento Circle in Caloocan City on Monday, the first day of a projected weeklong transportation strike to dramatize their opposition to the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program. Inset shows a stranded passenger about to board a “Libreng Sakay” bus provided by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Speaker Martin Romualdez to cope with the acute shortage of mass transportation due to the protest action.