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Commuters arriving from the provinces and departing from Metro Manila pass through Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange in Parañaque City on January 5, 2025, a day before workers and students return from the holidays. According to PITX officials, foot traffic has reached twenty to thirty thousand per hour since January 3. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

Commuters arriving from the provinces and departing from Metro Manila pass through Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange in Parañaque City on January 5, 2025, a day before workers and students return from the holidays. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Commuters flox to PITX during holiday exodus

Lyza Aquino

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - The situation in various terminals in Metro Manila continue to normalize on Monday as workers and students returned following the Christmas and New Year holidays. </p><p>The Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) said foot traffic reached 164,420 passengers as of midnight of January 6. The situation, however, has improved as fewer passengers arrived at the terminal past midnight.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/5/travelers-continue-to-flock-to-pitx-after-holiday-break-1702" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Travelers continue to flock to PITX after holiday break</a></div><p>Bus dispatchers at the terminal said that they have plenty of vacant seats available for those who want to travel to provinces like Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, and Camarines Norte.</p><p>As of 5 a.m., there were no queues at the ticketing area for those traveling up north to provinces like Pangasinan, Baguio, and Pampanga. Walk-ins were welcome.</p><p>Buses that traveled to Batangas on Monday morning departed from the terminal with around 20 to 30 vacant seats since most of the travelers already went back to their provinces during the weekend.</p><p>But there are some who chose to travel back to the province on Monday to avoid the holiday exodus.</p><p>Estrella Patrimonio arrived at the PITX around 3 a.m. from Calbayog, Samar. She was traveling with her sister, niece, and cousin.</p><p>&quot;One week lang kami [sa Calbayog], bakasyon lang po kasi piyesta doon sa amin,&quot; she said.</p><p>(We stayed for one week in Calbayog, just for vacation because it&#x27;s our fiesta.)</p><p>Authorities said that there were no reported delays or cancellations of trips at the terminal as of 6 a.m.</p><p>At 7 a.m., around 24,000 passengers were going in and out of PITX, according to authorities.</p><p>Meanwhile, other passengers also arrived in the wee hours in different bus terminals in Quezon City.</p><p>Sonny Roda, 71, patiently waited for his bus to arrive so he could go back to Quezon Province after a weeklong stay in San Carlos City, Pangasinan.</p><p>&quot;Pinapunta ako ng mga anak ko doon ako pinagbagong taon sa San Carlos dahil sila ay hindi makakauwi [sa Quezon]. Dati tuwing bagong taon nauwi sila sa Quezon... Okay naman ang biyahe, nakaalis ako ng alas-8 ng gabi, nakarating ako dito ng ala-1 ng madaling araw. Walang traffic,&quot; he said.</p><p>(My children asked nme to go home to San Carlos because they couldn&#x27;t come home to Quezon...the trip was okay; I left at 8 p.m. and got here at 1 a.m. There was no traffic.)</p><p>Passenger Lyn Paje opted to choose the overnight trip to La Union.</p><p>She spent her holiday break in Quezon Province together with her daughter.</p><p>&quot;Galing ako ng Buenavista, Quezon. Dalawa po kami ng anak ko. Mahalaga po na makabisita kami doon dahil nandoon po yung tatay niya at doon po kami nagbagong taon,&quot; she said.</p><p>(I came from Buenavista, Quezon. I was with my child. It&#x27;s important that we went there because his father is there and that&#x27;s where we celebrated the new year.)</p><p>No untoward incidents were recorded in Cubao terminals as of 6 a.m.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2024/12/16/holiday-carmageddon-congested-ports-expected-to-last-until-mid-january-dotr-1623" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Holiday carmageddon, congested ports expected to last until mid-January: DOTr</a></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X-bA93MNVZM?&amp;ab_channel=ABS-CBNNewsautoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The situation in various terminals in Metro Manila continue to normalize on Monday as workers and students returned following the Christmas and New Year holidays.</p>

The situation in various terminals in Metro Manila continue to normalize on Monday as workers and students returned following the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Overnight travelers flock to PITX, other bus terminals after holidays

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Overnight travelers flock to PITX, other bus terminals after holidays

Lyza Aquino,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 06, 2025 10:32 AM PHT

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