Crowd in CSBT declines; management expects more in coming days
Scenes from inside the Cebu South Bus Terminal as of 10 a.m. today, March 27, 2020. The long queues are gone and fewer passengers are now waiting to board the buses. | CDN Digital Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The number of passengers in Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) may have dwindled but its management is still anticipating the crowd to flock there again.
Carmen Quijano, CSBT manager, told reporters in a press interview on Friday, March 27, 2020, that they managed to ferry almost all passengers who queued in long lines for hours the previous day.
Quijano said bus operators and relevant government agencies heeded their request to expedite the boarding of passengers by deploying additional buses and ensuring orderly embarkation.
“The crowd then started to get thin past 2 a.m. By that time, the crowd is manageable and the lines that went outside of the terminal were gone,” Quijano said in Cebuano.
Throngs of people flocked to CSBT on Thursday, March 26, 2020, as individuals scramble to catch the next bus bound for the southern towns and cities in Cebu – a day after the Capitol announced that they will be implementing an enhanced community quarantine.
Enhanced community quarantine, according to officials, is the legal and formal term for lockdown which has been used as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Despite the decrease of passengers, Quijano said they will not be complacent as they are anticipating the crowd to return.
“Buses will remain operational until we receive specific instructions from the governor that there will be travel restrictions, and that buses and passengers will no longer be allowed in the terminal,” she added.
On the other hand, Quijano said they were having a hard time reprimanding passengers not complying with the social distancing protocols. She said they have asked police assistance to augment officers of the terminal tasked to ensure this measure will always be observed.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, at a separate press conference on Thursday, March 28, 2020, announced that mini-buses, buses, and vans-for-hire are still allowed to transport passengers to their respective hometowns from Cebu City until mobility restrictions will be put in place. /rcg
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