Bus shortage in south; number of passengers double than the usual

CEBU, Philippines - As passengers rushing to go home in the provinces for the Halloween started to buildup at the different bus terminals, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia personally inspected and observed the operation of the Cebu South Bus Terminal to ensure the safety of the travelers.

Strict security measures have been implemented at the province-run terminal such as 24-hour police visibility, thorough inspections of baggages using metal detectors and body frisking.

Garcia called on all the police and the military units in the province to be on full alert and see to it that the safety of the Cebuanos going home to their respective provinces is on top of their priority.

“Ang atong kapolisan motubag sa ilang responsibilidad pag-protehir sa katawhan ug sa publiko. Dili nga unahon nila ang mga demanda sa pipila ka politiko. Publiko dili politiko,” Garcia said. The Governor was also pleased to observe the orderly flow of passengers despite the lack of buses.

“Sa terminal orderly kaayo ang mga pasahero, lined up kay kuwang kaayo ang mga buses but di na sama sa una nga mag-ilogay,” Garcia said.

Garcia arrived at the terminal past 2:00 in the afternoon. Like any other ordinary passengers, the governor passed through the entrance gate following the process of inserting P5 coin to the turnstile and claimed the receipts before entering the passenger terminal.

The Governor noticed the lack of buses to ferry all the passengers immediately. However, Garcia said it is already beyond her control and it is up to bus operators to augment buses and make them immediately available for the passengers.

Despite the situation however the management was able to keep the order in the terminal. Unlike before, there were no more grabbing of seats or even dispatchers taking advantage of the situation by selling seats to passengers.

The terminal officer-in-charge Manny Guial said that they are expecting the number of passengers to double this time than the ordinary days.

On ordinary days, Guial said that the terminal has at least an average of 10,000 passengers departing to different destinations but the average daily users would reach at least 24,000 including those unloaded from their places of origin.

These 10,000 passengers are the ones paying P5 terminal fee. Garcia noticed that the passenger terminal lacks air-conditioning units and immediately ordered the putting up of additional units to ensure that the passengers are comfortable especially that they are paying for the use of the facility. (THE FREEMAN)