Lugaw anyone?

What we need is responsive management for the means of travel

Lugaw [lu-gaw]; English — porridge (if you are below the poverty line), congee (if you’re a rich kid) — a common food for most Filipinos with the following ingredients: rice, water, a pinch of salt and love or hate, depending on the mood and depending on whom you will give it to. Put in chicken and it is called arroz caldo or add innards and it is now goto. Such a gastronomical delight abounds in every corner of the Metro.

A few days ago some passengers at the port we’re treated to a delightful serving of lugaw with the most basic of ingredients. Legend has it that those passengers are still savoring the flavor up to now, not because it was delicious but because it eased the pain of a grumbling stomach, and most of all, care and love were among the ingredients.

The hungry passengers were stranded at the port through no fault of their own but due to glitches that could have been prevented.

You see, dear readers, you happen to be traveling to your home province, and being the tech-savvy millennial or Gen Z that you are, you surfed the web to book online but ooopppsss... the online booking system was not working. So, your baby boomer lolo, lola, tatang, and nanay told you there was no substitute for the good old queue at the ticket booths. And presto! The whole family is at the port! But wait, there is a long line of passengers queueing before the few overwhelmed and outgunned ticket booths! But wait! There is more! You got the tickets but where is the boat? The boat is nowhere to be seen, it had already left and there is no more boat for the day!

Result: Stranded passengers eating congee.

To put the matter in proper perspective and to view the whole picture as to why passengers get stranded and how it can be avoided, we need to have the complete data on the following:

1. Average number of passengers on normal days;

2. Average number of vessels on normal days, total average capacity, and total average number of daily trips;

3. Expected number of passengers on holidays/peak season;

4. Highest number of seaworthy vessels that can be utilized on holidays/peak season, total capacity, and the total highest possible number of trips; and

5. Number of manual ticket booths and maximum number each booth can process in a day.

You see fellow boat people, it is not rocket science. But we probably don’t need all the data above.

We just need enough important information to probably deduce who the culprit is on why your beauty was stranded at some port.

The birds patrolling the sky whispered to me — the number of daily sea trips is usually 55 but last 1, 2, and 3 January when there was an influx of passengers going home after the holidays in Calapan, there were only 22 trips.

Really? Do we still need to further complete the math? Or shall we have those responsible solve it? Of course, the correct answer is... Your guess is as good as mine!

If ticket-holding passengers ever get stranded again due to the lack of vessels, we hope that shipping lines or whoever is responsible will be kind enough to follow the lead of feeding the hungry.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said: “Whoever feeds someone hungry will have his sins forgiven, and whoever helps someone to travel will have his sins forgiven.” Relatedly, Jesus said, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”

Now, we don’t want our people to get hungry even if someone is caring enough to give them even a simple lugaw to ease an empty stomach. What we need is responsive management for the means of travel and the appropriate presence of corresponding support elements, facilities, and systems to cater to and serve the riding public.

If ticket-holding passengers ever get stranded again due to the lack of vessels, we hope that shipping lines or whoever is responsible will be kind enough to follow the lead of feeding the hungry, perhaps the stranded passengers may be treated to an upgraded goto or arroz caldo in the future!

It is our common wish and prayer that this challenge be addressed appropriately by the various individuals and parties involved cooperatively and pleasantly for the safety, security, and convenience of the general public.

We, ordinary citizens, are always at the receiving end of any policy shift, economic move, system change, or simply bad daily decision of the not-so-ordinary people.

So, lugaw, anyone?Remember, we are in the same boat….