Cebu South Bus Terminal remains open

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) will only seize operations upon the issuance of a memorandum from the governor to do so.

Carmen Quijano, CSBT manager, told provincial reporters yesterday that she has not yet received any form of communication from Governor Gwendolyn Garcia directing her to halt the terminal's operations.

She clarified that even with the declaration of movement restrictions that will take effect at 12:01 a.m. of March 30, she is still waiting on the go signal from the helm to cancel all trips on the said date.

"Ang mahitabo ani wa na gyuy byahe if ever makadawat ko og communication sa gobernador through aning mga opisyales nga gi-assign niya nga mohatod dire sa opisina. Until now, 'kun wala pa ko makadawat ana nga tingog sa gobernador, di gyud ko mo implementar ana," Quijano said.

Yesterday, a day after the massive upsurge of home-bound passengers, the terminal yielded significantly lesser passengers.

Last Thursday, March 26, CSBT accommodated an estimated of 40,000 passengers. Photos of the long line for buses went viral as it reached as far as the terminal's neighboring mall.

Quijano said the operations finished before midnight of March 26.

"Nahuman na ni, gabii na gyud. Mga sobra pa sa eleven (o'clock)," she said.

She added that while a spike in the number of passengers is expected today, it is predicted to be not as drastic as that of last Thursday.

"Nag-expect ko karon or ugma ba. Kay tomorrow is Saturday," she said yesterday.

"Murag minus na siguro tungod sa kakuyaw gahapon," she added.

Quijano said the implementation of social distancing is also expected to be easier in CSBT now that the upsurge of home-bound passengers has died down.  KQD (FREEMAN)