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SECURITY was tight at Cebu's airports, bus terminals and seaports amid the thousands of passengers arriving and leaving for the holidays.
The Cebu South Bus Terminal said hundreds of people were headed to the southern towns for Christmas and New Year.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for Central Visayas, meanwhile, said help desks were set up to facilitate the departure and arrival of passengers in the ports.
Commodore Angelito Gabisan, PCG-7 chief of staff, said these help desks that were set up across the region since Dec. 18 will continue to serve until Jan. 4.
He said these desks will assist passengers process their tickets.
Canine units were also in constant patrol to secure the ports and the passengers.
Gabisan said the Coast Guard will strictly enforce the no overloading rule on vessels.
He said the shipping companies promised to cooperate.
Despite this, some were unable to buy tickets since many inter-island vessels were fully-booked.
A mass communication student enrolled in Cebu City was supposed to go home to Surigao City last night but had to book a trip on Dec. 26 instead.
Ocean Jet fastcrafts also reported that their trips last night and this morning for Bohol were fully-booked.
In the meantime, the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) placed all the government hospitals under code white alert in anticipation of the influx of firecracker blast victims and other emergency cases during the holidays.
?A code white alert means all doctors and nurses in government hospitals are on call,? Dr. Susana Madarieta, DOH 7 regional director, said.
Madarieta called on revelers to avoid using firecrackers and buy food and other gifts instead.
She appealed to gun owners not to fire their guns since the number of stray bullet victims had remained the same in past years.
While they recorded at least three to five stray bullet victim cases last year, Madarieta said the number of firecracker blast victims went down at least during Christmas.
For those hurt in firecracker explosions, she advised them to wash their wounds thoroughly in soap and water first before being treated to a hospital.
So far, Madarieta said they have yet to admit a firecracker blast victim into the Cebu City Medical Center and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol and Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan
