By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Over 100 Cebu-bound passengers in the northern part of Negros Occidental were left stranded as Tropical Storm “Jolina” traversed the Visayas yesterday morning.

Captain Ludovico Librilla, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Western Visayas deputy commander and Negros Occidental station commander, said sea trips from the cities of Escalante and Sagay bound for the towns of Tuburan and Tabuelan in Cebu were halted around 6:00 a.m. after the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) placed the northern part of Cebu province under Storm Signal No. 1.

At around 11:00 a.m., PAGASA included the northern part of Negros Occidental under Storm Signal No. 1 as “Jolina” made landfall over Masbate island.

The PCG station in Bacolod City’s Barangay Banago, meanwhile, reported one roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel with seven drivers and helpers as passengers bound for Tabuelan, Cebu were stranded at the Sagay City Port.

In Escalante City, three RoRo vessels at the Danao and Barcelona ports bound also for Tabuelan or the town of Tuburan were barred from leaving the ports. At least 97 passengers, most of whom were drivers and helpers with their rolling cargoes, were stranded.

Meanwhile, even though Batangas and Metro Manila were later placed on Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal (TCWS) by PAGASA, the PCG added that there are no stranded passengers at the BREDCO Port in Bacolod City.
Trips between the city, Iloilo City and the town of Dumangas also continued normally throughout the day.

As of press time, PAGASA has yet to lift the TCWS in the northern part of Negros Occidental and Cebu, although Librilla had already stated that trips will be allowed to resume as soon as the storm signals are lifted in the affected areas./DGB, WDJ