PITX urges Bicol-bound passengers to wait at home until trips resume

The Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) on Sunday called on Bicol-bound passengers not to flock to the station, as trips have been cancelled due to traffic and some still-impassable roads in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami).

According to PITX corporate affairs officer Kolyn Calbasa, all trips to Bicol, the Visayas and Mindanao have been canceled except for those heading to Daet, and passengers are advised to check the trip schedule before heading to the terminal.

“Marami pang sasakyan ang nag-traffic na doon sa Maharlika Highway, that’s why may mga cancellations tayo. Medyo hindi pa okay ‘yung daanan papunta’t papasok sa iba’t ibang lugar ng Bicol region,” she said in a report by Dano Tingcungco on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

(There are still a lot of vehicles causing traffic on the Maharlika Highway, that’s why we have cancellations. The roads going to and from areas in the Bicol region are still not quite okay.)

Calbasa noted, however, that passengers that are already in the terminal or those who have no means to go back and forth could wait for trips to resume.

The PITX also said it is now preparing for the possible impact of the cancellations on trips this week, ahead of the expected exodus amid the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day weekend.

Kristine exited the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Friday, and has since intensified into a typhoon.

The state weather bureau is also monitoring Tropical Storm Leon (international name: Kong-Rey), which has slightly intensified over the Philippine Sea, and may continue to influence the Southwesterly Windflow triggered by Trami. This may then affect the Visayas, Mindanao, and the western section of Southern Luzon. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News