BACOLOD City – More than a hundred passengers were stranded at the BREDCO and Banago ports in this city yesterday morning after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) suspended sea travel due to Tropical Depression Kabayan.
According to Coast Guard Sub-Station BREDCO commander Chief Petty Officer Louie Campaner, there were at least 48 ticketed passengers inside the port’s passenger terminal.
Also, 525 Manila-bound passengers were stuck at the BREDCO port after their vessel was barred from leaving port as Negros Occidental was placed under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 1.
The passengers have been allowed to board their vessel that was moored at the port awaiting the “all clear” from the PCG.
The Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary’s (PCGA) 618th Squadron, meanwhile, counted as many as 300 passengers stranded at the port.
The PCGA 618th Squadron was able to provide relief assistance to the stranded passengers such as hot food and drinking water yesterday afternoon.
Aside from the BREDCO and Banago ports, Coast Guard Station Northern Negros Occidental chief Commander Joe Luviz Mercurio also issued a travel advisory barring trips between the ports of Cadiz, Sagay, Escalante, and San Carlos bound for Cebu, as well as trips between E.B. Magalona and Ajuy in Iloilo, and Pulupandan to Sibunag, Guimaras.
The travel suspension particularly caused chaos in the flow of passengers at the BREDCO port who were supposedly traveling home early for the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays.
The port management barred the entry of Iloilo-bound passengers and vehicles at the gate amid yesterday’s rains.
Most of the passengers, however, have nowhere else to go as they have only enough money for their trip home.
The stranded passengers were later picked up by the Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) and transported to the city’s evacuation center in Barangay Taculing where they could be given food and proper rest.
The city DRRMO will transport the passengers back to BREDCO port as soon as the PCG allows the resumption of trips.
BREDCO port management, meanwhile, have not offered any explanation as to why they barred passengers from accessing the terminals.
Negros Occidental was placed under TCWS No. 1 by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) late Sunday night, Dec. 17.
Kabayan has further downgraded into a low-pressure area yesterday afternoon. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
