The glass panels at the waiting area of the Cebu South Bus Terminal were taken down to help improve ventilation. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)
The sudden influx of passengers at the Cebu South Bus Terminal early yesterday afternoon that resulted in chaos and confusion is a portent of things to come.
Administrators of the bus terminal along N. Bacalso Ave. were caught off guard after hundreds of passengers heading for the southern part of the province arrived at the terminal past 2 p.m.
Most of the passengers were getting a ride on buses bound for Carcar, Argao, Dalaguete and Barili in Cebu’s south and also on buses bound for Dumaguete City in neighboring Negros Oriental.
Eddie Dusaban, the acting operations manager of the bus terminal, said the absence of directional signs and railings in the waiting areas added to the confusion causing passengers to jostle against each other in boarding the buses.
There were no reported injuries, but the incident gave the terminal administrators a hard knock on the need to prepare crowd control measures with only a week to go before the All Souls weekend where a similar influx of passengers is expected.
“Wala nabutangan og railings maong naglibog ang mga pasahero asa sila padung (There were no railings in place that’s why the passengers got confused on where to go),” he told Cebu Daily News.
Terminal staffers and security personnel managed to restore order after about half an hour.
A similar incident also happened last Oct. 18.
“This one (yesterday) was only one-fourth of what happened last Saturday. It took us until 9 p.m. to control the crowd,” Dusaban said.
North Bus
At the Cebu North Bus Terminal in Mandaue City, operations continued to be normal.
“Sa pagkakaron normal pa, dili daghan ang pasahero. Nanayo pud mi kay naa ko’y mga anak dala (The situation here is still normal. There’s not much passengers. We’re travelling early as I have my children in tow.), said Beboy Cabahug who was waiting for a bus for San Remigio town in northern Cebu.
Lito Dablo, operations manager of Ceres Bus at the North Bus Terminal, said the terminal usually gets busier beginning Oct. 30.
North Bus Terminal supervisor Nemesio Lumapac said Ceres Bus has committed to deploy 30 additional buses in the northern route during the All-Souls rush. He said the bus liner was already granted approval by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to field additional buses.
Common courtesy
Commenting on the South Bus Terminal incident, Eusebio Tajanlangit, who is commuting home to Argao, said yesterday’s commotion would not have happened if only passengers practiced common courtesy.
“First come, first serve unta. Walay ilogay (No one-upmanship),” he said.
He added that terminal managers should be more stringent in imposing rules to make the terminal more orderly.
Dusaban said that as of yesterday, the terminal was only 90 percent ready, but he however gave his assurance that everything will be set by Monday.
With All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2 coming up, the manager said he expects the number of passengers will grow four-folds beginning Oct. 28, Tuesday.
For starters, the glass windows in the waiting areas have been taken down to allow the free flow of ventilation as the air-conditioners in the terminal have all malfunctioned.
“Kuwang ra ang kuryente nga mu-flow sa terminal maong dili kadaog ang mga air-con, nangaguba ang ilang makina (The power supply to the terminal was inadequate causing the air-conditioners to conk out),” said Dusaban.
He clarified however that the technical glitches were not due to the discontinuance of the P5 passenger terminal fee which was imposed during the time of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
Dusaban said the terminal management will provide a special waiting area for senior citizens, people with disabilities, and pregnant women.
Tents will also be put up just in case it rains and there will be first aid stations at the entrance, said Dusaban.
The terminal is currently servicing 285 buses, majority of which are operated by Ceres Bus.
Dusaban said that the bus operators have committed to add more trips during the peak season.
The terminal will also be deploying additional security personnel, which includes an augmentation from the Civil Security Unit and “blue” guards of the Cebu Provincial Capitol.