Capitol-City Hall talks on North Bus starts

CEBU, Philippines - The formal talk between the Capitol and Cebu City Hall on the transfer of management of Cebu North Bus Terminal (CNBT) located at Subangdaku, Mandaue City has started.

Cebu City Administrator Jose Mari Poblete represented Mayor Michael Rama in a meeting called by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia with Provincial Board Member Sun Shimura at the Capitol yesterday.

Shimura first brought up the suggestion when he personally observed the order and systematic operations of the Cebu South Bus Terminal.

After the meeting yesterday, Poblete admitted the disparity between the two bus terminals. Poblete hopes that the talk was just the beginning given the existing legal realities in the transfer of management of the facility.

“Basta kaayuhan sa katawhan pirmi manang open ang dakbayan,” Poblete told reporters. (The City is always open especially if it will benefit the people.)

Garcia said what is being studied now is on how the Province can come in given the legal implications and ownership issues.

The passengers being served by the facility are constituents of the Province of Cebu, she said.

“We also feel our moral obligation to see what the province can do in order to improve the operations,” Garcia said.

Garcia also credited the Cebu City Government effort in trying its best to manage the facility the best way they can but there is a need for “infrastructure interventions.”

In two weeks time, another meeting is set to include the City Government of Mandaue where the facility is located.

Impressed by the operation of CSBT, Shimura earlier wondered why the collection of a P5 terminal fee was used by the governor’s opponents against her during the May 2010 elections. He is the chairman of the PB peace and order committee and hails from Daanbantayan, the northern-most town of mainland Cebu.

Shower rooms at the south terminal are even available for passengers at P5 per use, said CSBT manager Carmen Quijano.

The Cebu City Government committed to Capitol to improve the system at the North Bus Terminal following complaints about the unruly situation at the terminal during the recent lent season.

The governor called a meeting with the city government to know how it can be of help in the NBT since many of the constituents in the province are affected.

It was a 25-year lease agreement entered by the Cebu City government in 1995 to use the property as a terminal. The city pays a P2 million rent annually. The city then entered a Memorandum of Agreement with the Cebu Provincial Bus Operators Multi-purpose Cooperative, Inc. for the operation and maintenance of the facility. The income of the facility minus the annual rent is divided equally between the city government and the Cooperative.

Mayor Michael Rama said that best practices at the SBT must be replicated to improve the services at the NBT.

“If there are best practices, nganung dili man sundon? Nganung magpagahi-gahi man ta when it is for the riding public. We also have constituents who use that terminal to go to the north,” Rama said. — (FREEMAN)