Low passenger turnout for Undas: Filipinos prefer saving up for Christmas?

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos may be choosing not to go home to their provinces for “Undas” to save up instead for the Christmas season.

This was the reason cited by Araneta bus station general manager Ramon Legazpi on the fewer passenger turnout at the Cubao bus terminal, a day before Undas.

READ: LOOK: Fewer passengers at Araneta Bus Terminal a day before Undas

“To a few na naitatanong namin, maaaring ina-allot na lang nila by December, considering maaari ‘yung budget nila [They may be choosing to go home to their province in December, considering their budget],” Legazpi said in an interview.

“Kasi itong Undas, medyo maiksing occasion lang ito, unlike by December, so maaaring doon na lang nila ilalaan ‘yung budget nila pauwi sa probinsya [Probably because the Undas break is just a short occasion compared to Christmas in December. So they might be setting aside this budget for later when they travel to provinces],” he added.

As of yesterday, the passengers in both the Araneta bus terminal and the bus port, where the non-airconditioned and airconditioned buses are stationed, respectively, reached only about 5,000, Legazpi said.

This is 800 passengers short to the average of passengers recorded in the same period last year, he noted.

However, the Araneta bus terminal manager said that the volume of passengers could still increase throughout the day, perhaps in the afternoon until early evening.

Those who still wish to go home to their provinces may still do so, Legazpi said, as bus trips are still available.

“For those passengers na ibig pang humabol para dito sa Undas, ma-accommodate pa sila dito sa bus station, maluwag pa tayo [They can still be accommodated here],” Legazpi said.

“Maa-accommodate pa sila dito sa non-airconditioned buses. Although, they can still take their chances doon sa ating airconditioned buses sa bus port [They can be accommodated in our non-airconditioned buses although they can still take chances at our airconditioned buses at the bus port],” he added. /jpv