Mayor Rama wants Cebu South Bus Terminal to be transferred to SRP

Cebu South Bus Terminal in 2020. | File photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT)  to be transferred to the South Road Properties (SRP).

This is to expedite the ongoing civil works of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT), which Rama believes is being impeded by the current location of the terminal.

“So, it has to be urgently attended to. They have no place there anymore,” Rama said in his Ingna’ng Mayor program over Sugboanon Channel on March 5.

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Rama stated that he has already communicated with city hall officials to facilitate the transfer of the terminal from Natalio Bacalso Avenue to any available lot at the SRP.

According to the mayor, there is no existing ordinance allowing the terminal in the city, so he will ask the city council to enact another ordinance to facilitate the transfer of the CSBT.

“Magbuhat ta’g ordinance aron gyud maklaro gyud. Nga dili na kinahanglan og terminal sulod sa siyudad,” he said.

(We will make an ordinance so it will be clear. That the terminal is needed inside the city.)

Rama advocated for the transfer of CSBT to the SRP to ensure that the terminal’s operations would no longer impede the ongoing CBRT project.

Despite the terminal’s location falling within the city’s jurisdiction, the CSBT is currently being operated by the Cebu Provincial Government.

In an interview over Radio DyHP on February 29, Rama mentioned that he had offered Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia a lot at the SRP where the CSBT can be transferred.

Integrated terminal

Last October 2023, Garcia concurred with Rama’s suggestion to relocate both the CSBT and the Cebu North Bus Terminal to the SRP.

According to a Sugbo News report dated October 24, 2023, Garcia outlined her plans to integrate both the north and south terminals if the transfer to the SRP proceeds.

One of the stations under CBRT Package 1, covering a distance of 2.38 kilometers from another station in front of the Capitol, is currently being constructed in front of CSBT.

The parking area of SM City Cebu in Mabolo currently serves as the temporary location for the Cebu North Bus Terminal, following Mandaue City’s termination of the lease with Cebu City on the property during the pandemic, converting the site into a quarantine center. /with reports from Cebu City News and Information