Stranded for more than 30 minutes in Parañaque City, Lyceum student Cedyqueen del Rosario missed her first class Tuesday morning.
Thousands more like her had a common “excuse”: The not-so-smooth opening of the P24-million Southwest Integrated Transport Terminal (SITT) at the Uniwide Coastal Mall, which limits the operation of buses coming from Batangas and Cavite provinces to Parañaque.
The SITT is the first of the three terminals Malacañang has ordered set up to keep provincial buses to the outskirts of the metropolis and decongest major roads, especially Edsa. Two more are opening soon near Trinoma mall in Quezon City and in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
The intention may be laudable to those caught in the daily traffic jams, especially private motorists, but the new system left commuters like Del Rosario confused, their rush-hour travel more unpredictable and their wallets more depleted.
Many complained there were not enough public utility vehicles that could take them after disembarking at SITT. “There were only a few PUVs going to Lawton (in Manila) and they were not organized. There was no proper queue so even those who got here ahead of the others were able to get their next ride first,” Del Rosario told the Inquirer.
Long lines of irate commuters formed for jeepneys and UV Express vans going to Lawton or Divisoria, which arrived at the terminal in long intervals. The lines broke up and a virtual free-for-all erupted every time a vehicle arrived.
There were hardly any buses available going to Manila, which last month started limiting the number of buses that could enter the city.
However, northbound city buses plying Edsa, as well as PUVs bound for the MRT or LRT 1 stations and other Pasay City destinations such as Mall of Asia and Baclaran, were readily available at the SITT.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, which operates the terminal, deployed staff members to guide commuters and provide porter services for those with heavy luggage.
But these extra services failed to impress Del Rosario, who now must adjust not only her schedule but also her budget to make the daily trip from her Cavite residence to her university in Intramuros, Manila.
“I used to take just one bus from Cavite to Lawton, then another bus to school. That would take me only an hour and a half. Now, my travel time is longer and I would have to get up even earlier. My class starts in 20 minutes and yet I’m still here,” she said.
“I used to pay only P40 to go to Lawton. Now I would have to pay P33 just to get to Coastal Mall and more for the UV Express,” she said. “I knew about (the opening of the SITT). I just didn’t expect it would be this chaotic.”
Welda Bacalando, 40, from Trece Martires, Cavite, added: “We thought this new system would make commuting smoother, but it’s actually more disorganized.”
The Inquirer encountered Bacalando and four members of her family at the SITT while they were waiting for a taxi to go to Philippine Orthopedic Center in Quezon City.
She said they had been waiting for “two hours” at the terminal with a heavy load that included bags of food and clothes, pillows and an electric fan. Bacalando’s 68-year-old mother was scheduled for an operation that day.
National Center for Commuter Safety and Protection president Elvira Medina, whose group had strongly opposed the setup of the new terminals, said “I already warned (authorities) about this.”
In a statement, Medina reiterated the NCCSP’s earlier observation regarding the lack of preparation for the project, particularly the absence of a “developed intracity and intercity modal system that would support a centralized bus terminal scheme.”
But for MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, who said he went to work Tuesday by taking a bus from Dasmarinas, Cavite, to the SITT, these first-day complaints were understandable.
“There may be some confusion now, but I think in the following days it will be ironed out,” Tolentino told reporters.