DOTr Puts Up Malasakit Help Desks for Semana Santa Passengers

Over 20,000 passengers in Central Visayas are expected to flock sea ports in the region for holy week, the highest in the country according to a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) report dated April 16.

To assist port authorities on the expected crowd influx, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) initiates the putting-up of Malasakit Help Desks in terminals in Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

These help desks are manned by PCG personnel, who will give assistance and handle complaints of the riding public, so their concerns can be addressed immediately.

The Malasakit Help Desks will have the same operating hours as to the ports they are operating in.

In an Inter-Agency press conference for Oplan Byaheng Ayos Semana Santa 2019, Port Police Senior Superintendent Glenn Sarador told PIA that the DOTr, together with PCG, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and the Police Regional Office are 100 percent ready for the anticipated increase of trips and tourists in the region this week.

In the same press conference, Sarador ensures safety and security for everyone, especially the travelling public.

Meanwhile, PCG Central Visayas District have deployed K9 teams, special operation forces, harbor patrollers, and ship inspectors stationed in ports. These personnel are directed to exercise extra vigilance in inspecting passengers and luggages to ascertain travel safety and security, despite the region being placed only at Security Condition 1.

The Oriental Port and Allied Services Corporation (OPASCOR) has also fielded their own ambulance equipped with competent medical first aiders to augment the government staff stationed in the ports of Cebu. (Jan Karla Madrio/PIA7)