Children and elderly will get free bus rides

CEBU, Philippines - With hints of more buses coming from sister city Kaohsiung in Taiwan, the city government will be offering free rides for children and the elderly here, said public information officer Nagiel Bañacia. 

Bañacia recently came from a four-day conference of cities held in Kaohsiung.

The buses donated by Kaohsiung will be labeled “Children and Elderly Free Ride Kaohsiung Buses.”

Bañacia said he was able to speak with Kaohsiung Mayor Chu Chen and Deputy Mayor Li-Ming Shu and the officials are glad that the city is making good use of the vehicles Kaohsiung has donated.

“They’re happy for that because in one way or another, they were able to help us and our city,” Bañacia told reporters.

So far, the city has 27 buses from Kaohsiung, which are under the custody of the General Services Office.

“I can’t say how many, but murag naa may indication… indication lang nga they’re going to donate … they just said to me that they’ll look into possibilities on how we can process it,” Bañacia said.

Last May, Councilor Margarita Osmeña approved the set of tariffs proposed by GSO-officer-in-charge Nagiel Bañacia for those who want to use Kaohsiung buses.

The approved tariffs are from P1,000 to P8, 000 depending on its purpose of use.

Meanwhile, the University of the Philippines - Cebu is set to offer in September next year the master’s program in design and applied science, which was created as an offshoot of the partnership between the Kaohsiung City of the Philippines- Taiwan Academic Networking Program and University of the Philippines System and Southern Taiwan Universities Alliance.

The program is for Cebuanos. (FREEMAN)