The management of 2Go Travel still has not confirmed when exactly it will resume its Tagbilaran-Manila sea trips, after initially informing local port authorities that the relaunch will be in May.

According to Engr. James Gantalao, manager of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) in Tagbilaran, he has already sent a letter to the shipping firm but it has yet to reply.

Initial plans of the company indicated that it intended to reestablish the route in May to address higher travel accommodation demands in Bohol in the month of May, the province’s so-called “fiesta season.”

Gantalao said that the PPA’s head office already spent P70 million to deepen the channel where the shipping firm’s vessel will traverse right before docking at the Tagbilaran pier.

The dredging was among the initial requests of the 2Go management in line with the planned resumption of operations in the city.

The PPA official noted that his office wanted to get the latest update from 2Go soon as the public has been clamoring for the re-opening of the direct Tagbilaran-Manila sea route.

After the PPA made the initial announcement on 2Go’s plan, hundreds of comments poured in through the Facebook pages of The Bohol Chronicle and DYRD Bohol ang Kasaligan supporting the initiative.

Most of the commenters expressed excitement over the cheaper mode of transportation from Tagbilaran City to Manila.

“Salamat kay naa man gud uban na di mosakay eroplano, maajo na naay diretso na kay lisud via Cebu huwat pa ug masakyan pa Tagbilaran,” Getulia Arbuyes Ajos said.

Other netizens also would not mind the longer travel time.

“Miss ko kaya mag byahe sa barko…sarap magbyahe dati sa barko kahit dinuyan-duyan ka sa alon habang tulog ka, kinabukasan Tagbi na,” said Rita Daleon.

In current sea trips between Tagbilaran and Manila, passengers have to travel onboard buses and pass through other provinces before reaching the nation’s capital or Bohol. (AD)