This Week in Cebu (December 15 to 21, 2018)

Cloudy weather continues to dominate the Cebu skyline for this week. While the sun does peek out from behind the clouds at the start of the week, there is still a 50 percent chance of rain so it’s best to bring your rain gear just in case. Monday will see some sunshine over the Queen City of the South, but the rest of week will see rain showers in different parts of the city. An improvement is expected at the end of the week as Friday will see partly sunny weather over Cebu. Temperatures will range from 24 0C up to 31 0C [1].

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Light Railway Transit (LRT) are expected to ease traffic in Metro Cebu once the project is implemented. Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino said the BRT is part of the first phase of the Integrated Intermodal Transport System (IITS) project of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) [2]. It expected to be ready by 2020 and will be the feeder line for the LRT. The first phase of the project will also include the airport line of the LRT from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to and from Cebu City. Once the airport line is finished, the northern route from Cebu City to Danao City and southern route from Cebu City to Carcar City will follow.

Hot on the heels of the AirAsia announcement of its upcoming Cebu-Macau run, Cebu Pacific launched its own Cebu-Macau flights on December 7 [3]. The homegrown airline will have four flights between Cebu and Macau every week. CebGo President and Chief Executive Officer Alexander Lao said the flights will cater to leisure travelers between the two destinations. CebGo is the inter-island subsidiary of Cebu Pacific. Flight schedule from Cebu to Macau is at 6:35 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. On the other hand, the return flights from Macau to Cebu are scheduled at 9:45 PM on the same days.

Boom na Boom sa Sugbo (formerly Kasadya sa SRP) officially opened its gates to Cebuanos on December 8 [4]. The annual carnival at the South Road Properties (SRP) features 30 rides and amenities Cebu residents and visitors can enjoy. These rides include two Ferris wheels, two pirate ships, and bumper boat rides, among others. Fees for the rides range from PhP30 to PhP50. Entrance fee to the carnival is PhP20 on weekdays and PhP25 on weekends and holidays. A free shuttle service is available to ferry visitors from the Mambaling flyover and Plaza Independencia from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Boom na Boom sa Sugbo is open from 4:00 PM to 2:00 AM every day until February 17, 2019.