Thousands return to Cebu City

CEBU, Philippines - Officials of the two Cebu bus terminals were able to safely manage the unloading of passengers coming back yesterday from the northern and southern towns after the observance of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day and the long weekend.

Carmen Quijano, manager of the Cebu South Bus Terminal, said that they were able to manage many passengers from the south safely but she also expects that there will be more passengers coming back to the city today since it is also the start of classes.

"Safe ra gyud kaayo among pag-handle sa mga passengers. Daghan-daghan pud ang nangabot ganiha (yesterday) pero we expect more karong alas tres sa kadlawon. Pero dili gyud makahadlok kay everything is controlled," Quijano said.

She added that seven policemen were assigned by Cebu Provincial Police Office director Patrocinio Comendador to keep watch at the bus terminal until tomorrow when everything is expected to be back to normal.

Quijano also said that with the lifting of the P5 terminal fee, the management always reminded the passengers to be vigilant against pickpockets and thieves.

In order to deter these unsavory characters, Governor Gwen Garcia reiterated to the CSBT management that the passengers should purchase a ticket first before they are allowed to enter the waiting lounge.

Chief Insp. Romeo Santander, chief of the City Intelligence Branch of the Cebu City Police Office, said they anticipated a huge volume of passengers yesterday so they arranged security measures beforehand.

He said they maximized their deployment at the CSBT where a lot more passengers are expected to arrive early this morning.

"Start man gud ron sa trabaho ug sa klase so gi-anticipate nato nga mas daghan pa g'yud pasahero mag-abot diri," he said.

Santander said the paging system at the said bus terminal also helps a lot in handling the hundreds of passengers.

The official said policemen and police cars were also deployed at the Citilink Terminal and the Librando Bus terminal also along N. Bacalso Ave.

Santander said they also deployed more personnel to assist policemen of the Waterfront Police Station which is in charge of guarding passengers in Pier 1 to Pier 4.

Meanwhile, Jun Jumao-as, Cebu North Bus Terminal manager, said that the unloading of passengers from northern Cebu yesterday was peaceful and orderly.

Jumao-as said that they found no problem in discharging the passengers in the terminal, their problems only happen during the loading of thousands of passengers going home to their respective places during the holidays.

"Wala man gyud na'y problema ang pagdiskarga, kani ra man gyud ang pagkarga sa mga pasahero ang problema pero amo nang nasolusyonan nganhi sa North Bus Terminal, maong hapsay ra gyud ang among pagdala sa mga pasahero," said Jumao-as.

However, he said that there were only a few passengers heading north yesterday because most of the passengers were coming back to the city from there.  —BRP (FREEMAN)