The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) recorded 75,261 outbound passengers and 82,528 inbound passengers at all ports nationwide the weekend before Christmas or around 157,789 people in total.
The PCG said that they have deployed 2,902 frontline personnel in 16 Coast Guard Districts to support the influx of sea-going travelers. They were able to also inspect 606 vessels and 609 motorbancas on major ports in the country.
Between 12 midnight to 6:00 a.m. on Sunday alone, December 22, the PCG said it has monitored 20,470 outbound passengers and 18,516 inbound travelers in all ports.
In Manila, the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) recorded last Saturday the highest number of passengers recorded in the bus terminal’s history. Around 218,000 people flocked at the PITX to catch trips ahead of Christmas Day, according to PITX corporate affairs officer Kolyn Calbasa.
She said they expect more passengers today to take their trip home for the holidays in their respective provinces.
“Our last count was 218,000 passengers just on Saturday alone. That’s record-breaking for us because our last highest count ever was 204,000 passengers on December 23 last year,” Calbasa said.
The Department of Transportation has projected that around 7 million Filipinos will travel by bus and boats to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with their families.
“Three million ang inaasahang dadagsa diyan sa PITX, so land ‘yan. Four million ang inaasahan sa mga pier, mga sea ports…four million ang dadagsa hanggang next month, I think first two weeks of January,” said DOTr Executive Assistant to the Secretary Jonathan Gesmundo at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon forum.
The PCG Southern Tagalog District reported a significant influx of passengers and vehicles at Batangas port.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Coast Guard records nearly 158K holiday travelers at various ports”