Terminals filled with stranded passengers

Stranded passengers stay at the Pier 1 terminal as they wait for the gale warning to be lifted and be allowed to board the respective vessels to bring them to their destinations. / CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

DAISY Soratos would have wanted to go home to her hometown in Iloilo after spending the weekend in Cebu City with her son.

But the 48-year-old mother had to wait, as all boat trips in Cebu were cancelled due to tropical depression Basyang.

Soratos was stuck at Cebu City’s Pier 1 since 6 p.m. last Monday.

“Syempre, budlay kaayo kay wala tay ligo. Pero kon delikado mobiyahe, dili lang mopugos kay basin unya og malunod. Okay ra magpaabot basta safe.

(Of course, it’s a burden to wait especially that I have not taken a bath. But if it’s risky to sail, then we won’t force it because the ship might sink. It is better to wait as long as we are safe),” she told Cebu Daily News.

Soratos attended a party for his 22-year-old son in Cebu City last Saturday. They proceeded to Balamban town, west Cebu, to visit relatives before travelling to Pier 1 on Sunday supposedly to sail back to Iloilo.

“Kay na-cancel man ang among trip, diri na lang mi natulog. (When our trip was cancelled, we decided to stay here in the pier to sleep),” she said.

At least 100 persons were stranded in Pier 1 on Tuesday. As of 6 p.m. yesterday, the Philippine Coast Guard still did not allow ships and other sea vessels to sail due to the bad weather condition brought about by tropical depression Basyang.

Na Luo, a Chinese national, was among those who waited along with her family in Pier 1.

She said they were set to travel to Bohol for a vacation.

“We just arrived from Boracay this (Tuesday) afternoon. Unfortunately, there’s a typhoon. We’ll just wait for further advice,” she said.

At the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT), at least 31 passengers bound for the cities of Dumaguete and Bacolod in Negros provinces and Zamboanga City in Mindanao were also stranded since Monday evening.

Vallacar Transit, the operator of Ceres Lines, suspended all bus trips to these places due to the weather condition.

Joey Herrera, CSBT manager, said the passengers opted to stay inside the terminal to wait for authorities to lift the travel advisory.

The Provincial Tourism Office also suspended all tourist activities in the entire Cebu, and accounted a total of 145 stranded tourists in the northeastern towns of San Francisco, Poro, Tudela, and Pilar in Camotes Island, and Malapascua Island in the northern-most portion of the province.

In Camotes Island, 86 foreigners and 14 locals who were left stranded in San Francisco, Poro and Tudela and another two foreign tourists in Pilar town, said an 8 a.m. advisory posted by the Cebu Provincial government on its Turismo Sugbo Facebook page.

Another group of 79 foreign tourists and 64 local tourists were stranded on Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan town while 53 others were in Sumilon Island in Oslob town.

“All tourism officers/ tourism focal persons are advised to closely monitor and coordinate with their local DRRM office in case of evacuation,” the FB post said. /With Day Desk Editor Doris C. Bongcac