“HASOL. Hasol kaayo (It’s a big hassle).”
These are the words of a Toledo City-bound commuter who waited for more than two hours for a van to take her to her hometown on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
“Ganiha ra mi gapaabot diri (We’ve been waiting here for so long),” said the female passenger.
She, along with the rest of the interviewees, requested anonymity.
They had gathered along Sanciangko St. in Cebu City, hoping to catch a southbound van after the City Government shut down the V-hire terminal along Junquera St. in Barangay Kamagayan on Friday, April 28.
“Mouli ko kada weekend. Unya mag-V-hire jud ko pirme (I go home every weekend, and I always take the van for hire),” said a college student from the University of Cebu.
He said the lack of public information and dissemination about the closure inconvenienced a lot of them since they were not aware of the situation at the terminal.
“There was no prior notice that they would close the terminal. No signs were posted to inform passengers. I’m really affected because I don’t like taking the bus,” he said in Cebuano.
Another passenger, a mother with her daughter, shared her worries and why she prefers to take the van home to Toledo City.
“It’s faster. With the bus, they stop along the way to let passengers in. That scares me. With the van, once it’s full, it doesn’t pick up additional passengers,” she said in Cebuano.
Now that the V-hire terminal is closed, she said she does not know what will happen during weekends, when there are more passengers.
She said she and her daughter had been walking around the downtown area, hoping to catch a ride home. At one point, she said she was willing to pay P200 per head for a taxi ride.
A sign at the barricaded terminal directs passengers to the Cebu South Bus Terminal on N. Bacalso Ave. and the Cebu North Bus Terminal at SM City Cebu.