College students to get free rides

CEBU, Philippines — College students from the mountain barangays of Cebu City will soon enjoy free rides to their schools and back.

The city government will launch a dry run next month after an orientation of the personnel who will carry out the service.

“College students who live in remote barangays have a significantly harder time going to and from school. Jeepneys routes are sparse, and habalhabals are very expensive. There is also the matter of peace and order as well as simply having the time to commute, study, and for some, work,” read part of a post on Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s Facebook page.

Osmeña included in the proposed P8.1 billion annual budget for 2019 the purchase of 40 buses for this project, costing P232 million.

Osmeña said the Mayor’s Management Team (MMT) is now preparing the comprehensive plan for the free bus ride project. Among the members of the team are Juvanne Paler, Rhena Gwen Bance, Hazel Mae Binolirao, Shandie Eve Abbu, and Chris Mae Maraño.

According to the team, some of the problems identified by the college students from the uplands are insufficient number of jeepneys; poor condition of some roads; expensive fares of habalhabal and their availability; and limited jeepney routes.

Because of these problems, some students end up going to their classes late, increasing their chances of dropping out. The situation also leads to additional expenses as students resort to renting in the lowland barangays as they study.

Under the plan, four steps are identified to ensure a systematic delivery of service to the students.

First step is registration of students, followed by identification of bus routes, establishment of standard operating procedure, and evaluation of dry run in November.

The city’s the Local School Board will be asked to produce a list of scholars of the city government that are from the mountain areas.

Initially, there are four routes identified by the city’s Department of General Services. First route includes barangays Sudlon 1, Sudlon 2, Sinsin, Buot, Bonbon and Babag. Second route covers barangays Tabunan, Tagbao, Adlaon, Taptap, Pung-ol Sibugay, Malubog, and Busay.

The third route includes barangays Guba, Sirao, Cambinocot, Agsungot, Pung-ol Sibugay, Malubog, and Busay while the fourth cover barangays Lusaran, Paril, Mabini, Binaliw, and Pit-os. — JMD (FREEMAN)