South bus terminal no bus shortage for November 2

CEBU, Philippines - Lesser passengers were cramped yesterday at the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) which meant there were enough buses to transport those who still wanted to go home to their towns to observe All Soul’s day.

This was according to Vicente Dejoras Jr., CSBT administrator, who said they had no problem yesterday with the number of buses since there were lesser passengers at the terminal compared to last November 1 where there were about 20,000 passengers waiting for a ride home.

Although they were already expecting the influx of thousands of passengers who will be going home for All Saint’s and All Soul’s Day, Dejoras said it took some buses a while to get back to the terminal due to mechanical problems while more and more passengers were arriving at the CSBT.

Since Thursday, passengers were already at the CSBT to catch the earliest ride home.

Due to the shortage of buses that could cater the increasing number of passengers, the Provincial government dispatched buses from the towns of Argao, Barili, Boljoon and Talisay City.

Governor Hilario Davide III personally called the mayors of the mentioned towns and city to request for the use of their buses to help transport passengers going to southern towns who were still waiting at the CSBT.

But while there were lesser passengers yesterday, Dejoras said they expect the need for all buses tomorrow when the passengers are set to go back to the city in time for work on Monday.

Dejoras said all bus operators are ready to cater to the passengers going home.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have reminded bus drivers though not to board passengers en route to the city when they are already full, even if they see the number of passengers waiting for a ride along the road.

Traffic and security authorities warned that they will be implementing checkpoints to check if buses are overloaded.  (FREEMAN)