Members of the provincial board are looking for ways to help commuters from neighboring towns who will face additional financial challenges as a result of the transfer to Barangay Irawan in the city of the transport terminal.
Board member Cherry Pie Acosta said during her privilege speech Tuesday that once the new terminal is operational, the provincial government should offer free rides to Palaweños from the new terminal to Robinsons Place Palawan.
She requested that the General Services Office (GSO) examine the state of the provincial government’s buses and, if necessary, allocate funds for the purchase of new vehicles.
“We can extend transportation assistance to our constituents kaya baka pwede natin ma-recondition ang mga bus dito or we can request from governor Alvarez. Ito ay paghahanda sa ating mahihirapan na mga commuters,” Acosta said.
Ex-officio board member Ferdinand Zaballa further said that the operation of the new terminal will place an additional burden on passengers, given the possibility of an increase in transportation fares as a result of the continued rise in oil prices.
“Magbabaon kami ng malaki because we have to burden [or to consider] the transportation [fare] from Irawan to Poblacion [of Puerto Princesa City] kaya dapat mayroon tayong magawa para matulungan sila,” Zaballa said.
“Sa unang operation nito ay marami ang sasakit ang bulsa kung idadagdag natin ang pagtaas ng pamasahe (dahil) sa pagtaas ng krudo at allowance pa,” he added.
Board member Juan Antonio Alvarez also said there should be an inventory of provincial government-owned buses to identify the number of available transportation.
“Baka pwedeng i-inventory at i-itemize muna natin kung ilan ba ang bus na ginagamit, ilan ang dapat ayusin at ‘yong walang pinag gagamitan,” Alvarez said.
On March 4, the Puerto Princesa City government inaugurated the New Bus and Jeepney Terminal, which is expected to start operations after the May 2022 National and Local Elections (NLE).
Once vacated, the present terminal in Brgy. San Jose will be occupied by other city government agencies.
The matter was referred to the Transportation Committee for further discussion, and a GSO representative was invited to speak at the next committee meeting. A city government representative was also invited to attend to provide updates on the new terminal’s operations.
