EDITORIAL - Gateways giving Cebu a very bad name

Pretty soon, devotees of the Santo Niño will be arriving in droves in Cebu City, hoping to fulfill and renew their sacred vows to the Holy Child. Also coming will be the tourists lured by the promise of fun and merriment during the Sinulog. Many of them will pass through the airport. But more will be coming in via the various seaports in Cebu, particularly the port in Cebu City.

The airport and seaports are the gateways to Cebu. These are the places that give the first impressions of what Cebu is as a place, and of Cebuanos as a people. In the case of repeat visitors, these same gateways reinforce their prior impressions. If their prior impressions were good, it is hoped their new impressions will be better. If bad, it is hoped this time around their impressions will be rectified for good.

The importance of these gateways cannot be overemphasized. Even for native Cebuanos returning home, they should expect nothing less than a safe, convenient, and hassle-free arrival. After all, this is home. This is where they should not expect any unpleasant surprises. This is where they should not feel unwelcome. This is where they should not be held up and get fooled.

Unfortunately, it is in these gateways that an arriving person comes face to face with all sorts of hoodlums, especially hoodlums on wheels. Take the case of what is currently befalling arriving passengers of fastcraft plying the Ormoc and Tagbilaran routes at Pier 1. Ever since fastcraft operations were transferred from Pier 4 to Pier 1, these passengers have fallen prey to unscrupulous taxi drivers.

These taxi drivers park outside the gates of Pier 1 and refuse to take on any passengers unless it is on their own terms -- which often means exorbitant flat rates instead of using the required taxi meters. Because no person in authority is monitoring the situation and it is too much hassle to report to the authorities, the passengers whose only desire is to get to where they are going are often forced to submit to this extortion.

The situation was better when fastcraft operations were at Pier 4 because there used to be a taxi stand there and at least one person was manning it to take down taxi names and plate numbers and give these to the passengers as reference in case of any trouble or untoward incident. There is none of this orderliness at Pier 1. What has come to take its place is chaos and brazen extortion.

This is not the right way to welcome anyone to Cebu. This is giving Cebu a very black eye. And if you are a returning native Cebuano, it is cause for one great big embarrassment to identify these hoodlums as your brothers. We hope the proper authorities, whether it is the Cebu Port Authority or the LTFRB, will do something about this because it is giving Cebu a very bad name.