It’s 24/7 for South Bus Terminal during Sinulog

Personnel of the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) won’t be allowed to go on leave or be absent during the peak days of the Sinulog celebration.

Acting CSBT Operations Manager Eddie Dusaban said the management team will sleep at the terminal next Sunday to greet the expected surge of early commuters the following day.

“All CSBT personnel will cooperate. This is our sacrifice during this time of celebration so that commuting will be orderly. Attendance is compulsory,” he told reporters yesterday.

Starting at Sunday dawn, buses will be moved near the San Pedro Calungsod Shrine at the South Road Properties (SRP) and will be returned to the terminal at 10 p.m. when the key Sinulog events are over.

By then, Dusaban said, southbound commuters will probably start flocking to the terminal.

Crowd control

While buses are not allowed in the city, passenger jeepneys granted special permits by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will be allowed to fetch passengers from SRP to the Basilica del Sto. Niño.

Dusaban said the management team is preparing for hectic terminal activity from Jan. 17 to 20. He said letters have already been sent to the Cebu provincial government requesting for an additional 60 guards.

He added that they requested for 30 personnel to help with sanitation and crowd control along with 10 auxiliary members.

About 10 more police officers will be deployed around the terminal, Dusaban added.

Shortage

At the moment, only five are on duty with one officer for each of the five terminal sectors.  He said 27 security guards are presently on duty, divided into three shifts.

“Atoa gyud ning gipangandaman kay dagsa gyud na (We are preparing this because we expect it to overflow),” Dusaban said.

Along with the influx of passengers, he said they expect a shortage of buses during the peak days of the festivity.

“No matter how many buses we have, we will always fall short if the passengers are too many at a given time,” he said. He said they are now contacting towns to request the use of the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo buses as well as the Cebu City government for the Kaohsiung buses, which proved valuable during the past peak seasons.