Passengers wait at the Manila North Port Terminal on Friday, December 22, 2023. INQUIRER.net / Eric John Mendoza
MANILA, Philippines — At the Manila North Port Terminal, Lovely Rose Maglangit was preparing for a long wait – and the high possibility of celebrating Christmas alone.
Maglangit, 42, arrived at the port on Friday with joy and excitement over the anticipation of celebrating with her family in Zamboanga City. But it quickly changed to frustration – and surrender – upon knowing that the ship that would ferry her home would only arrive on Tuesday, a day after Christmas.
Boat arrivals have been delayed because the impacts of Tropical Storm Kabayan still lingers in Mindanao.
“Hindi baleng ikaw ang maghintay kaysa sa ikaw ang hintayin,” Maglangit, a domestic worker in Manila, told INQUIRER.net. “Ikaw ang nangangailangan sa barko; hindi barko ang nangangailangan sayo.”
(It’s better for you to wait than for you to be waited for. You are the one who needs the ship; it’s not the ship that needs you.)
READ: PCG records over 125,000 passengers in sea ports nationwide
Maglangit was just one of the more than 5,400 passengers who opted to stay at the port until the ferry arrives four days from today, December 22.
From the Manila port, she would embark on a two-day journey at sea for a short visit to her two children in Zamboanga City.
But not only humans were waiting for the boats to arrive at the Manila North Port Terminal.
Tagpi, a nine-month-old aspin (street dog), and his owner, Mary Joy Rabaya, 33, wait at the Manila North Port Terminal on Friday, December 22, 2023. INQUIRER.net / Eric John Mendoza
Tagpi, a nine-month-old aspin (street dog), and his owner, Mary Joy Rabaya, 33, waited overnight in the port from Thursday. He has been cramped inside a cage since.
The two were bound for Puerto Princesa, Palawan on Friday afternoon.
According to Rabaya, she had to cough up P2,000 for a rental crate for her dog because the original cage she brought with Tagpi were rejected by port personnel due to its supposedly wrong design.
The fur parent, however, seemed to not mind.
“Hindi lang po kasi siya hayop para sa amin. Mahal na mahal po kasi namin,” she told INQUIRER.net.
(He’s not just an animal for us. We love him so much.)
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