During grand parade: LTFRB to give permits to provincial buses

CEBU, Philippines - The Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board-7 will be granting a special authority to provincial buses that wish to serve passengers in Cebu City during the Sinulog Grand Parade this Sunday.

LTFRB-7 Director Rey Elnar said the agency has yet to determine how many buses will be granted the permit.

With the thousands expected to flock the city on Sunday, the buses will be issued a special permit so they can enter and ferry passengers to strategic areas.

LTFRB started issuing the special permit four years ago amidst complaints of passengers of lack of public utility vehicles in Cebu City on the day of the Grand Parade.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace-Philippines ocean campaigner Vince Cinches urged the city government to ensure that the anti-littering ordinance be implemented to the fullest.

“Trash ends up in the sea and into our oceans. I hope that Cebuanos and devotees learn from the recent black Nazarene problem, and make Sinulog zero waste. We have to make sure to embody the word cleanliness is next to godliness,” Cinches said.

The Cebu City Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Team (CESET) has said no one from the group will be taking a day off until the Sinulog festivities are over.

“We issued a memorandum to all CESET personnel that there will be no day off and no absences. There are seven teams deployed particularly in crowded  areas and we will be having a 24/7 special operations during the Sinulog activities,” said CESET chief Grace Luardo.

She urged the public to cooperate in helping make the city clean by throwing their trash into garbage bins and using the portable toilets (portalets) installed in areas expected to be frequented by crowds especially on Sunday.

Luardo said maintaining cleanliness is important not only to make the surroundings look good but, more importantly, to protect public health.  (FREEMAN)