CEBU, Philippines - The dancing bug has bitten deep indeed.
After the phenomenal success of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center dancing inmates, Capitol consultant Byron Garcia is planning to have dancing porters at the Cebu South Bus Terminal too.
Garcia, who is also head of the terminal operations, said the plan is not farfetched as some of the porters at the terminal are former CPDRC inmates whom he hired shortly after being released from jail.
As of last week, the terminal only has six porters, and he said he will need at least 20 to start his new project. Last week, three were scheduled to be released and will be absorbed by the terminal, said the capitol consultant.
The phenomenal success of the dancing inmates, which garnered millions of viewers in YouTube, was Garcia’s brainchild.
It all started with the daily dancing exercise inside jail until Garcia uploaded the synchronized dance moves of the inmates to the Internet.
Garcia said that the training enforced inside the jail has made the inmates disciplined, and those former inmates who are now terminal porters practice this discipline in their new work.
“Di man mahadlok ang mga pasahero nila. Mga kugihan man sad, di man gani mobungat og presyo,” said Garcia.
The porters at the CSBT, he said, live on their daily tips from the passengers they are helping.
There are about 9,000 of passengers at the terminal everyday, and all of them are served by only six porters. Each day, a porter gets an average of P400. This may go up during the holidays. —Liv G. Campo/BRP (THE FREEMAN)