Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) Director Jonathan Tumulak announces the free bus rides during the Kasayuran sa Kalambuan Forum at the Cebu Provincial Capitol Public Information Office. CDN Digital photo | Gerard Vincent Francisco
Cebu City, Philippines —The Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) will offer free bus rides to some towns and cities around Cebu this Holy Week, according to CSBT Director Jonathan Tumulak.
Tumulak said during the Kasayuran sa Kalambuan Forum at the Cebu Provincial Capitol Public Information Office that there will be free trips to the cities of Naga and Carcar, and the towns of Oslob and Dumanjug starting this Wednesday.
This is made possible after the local government units of the said cities and towns lent buses that will cater to passengers for the Holy Week break.
A total of 10 buses will be lent to the CSBT, one each from Naga and Oslob and four each from Carcar and Dumanjug.
The Cebu Provincial Capitol will also be lending two standby coasters in case there is a shortage of buses.
Tumulak said that he is still waiting for more LGUs to provide more buses to help cater to the influx of passengers during the weekend.
Tumulak clarified that the buses will offer point-to-point (P2P) service, which means there will be just one pick up point and one drop off point. There will be no stopping in between the pick up and drop off points. This is recommended by the Office of Transportation Security (OTS).
Passengers may ride any of these buses only at the CSBT, and will be dropped off in either the town or city’s police station, or municipal or city hall.
“Okay ang libreng sakay. Ang condition, wala kay ipick up sa highway, walay munaog sa highway. Diretso didto sa mga lungsod,” Tumulak said.
(Free rides are allowed. The condition, though, is there’s no picking up of passengers on the highway, no dropping of passengers on the highway. The bus goes straight to the towns.)
The number of times the bus travels per day depends on the number of buses assigned to a certain route. But Tumulak estimated it to vary from three times to six times a day.
According to Tumulak, he is expecting an increase of 10 percent in the number of passengers starting Wednesday, which is typically the day when most people start leaving for the Holy Week break.
Last year, the CSBT recorded a total of 41,850 passengers in Holy Wednesday. /bmjo