MANILA — Passengers from the provinces continue to arrive at the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) on Monday, but some are also heading for the provinces only now, preferring to avoid the holiday rush.

Since Wednesday last week, thousands of Metro Manila residents had traveled to their hometowns for the Holy Week break. Authorities said the number of passengers that flocked to PITX on April 5 reached over 100,000.

Most of them are expected to return to Metro Manila this Monday as the country ends the long Semana Santa weekend.

Some passengers however avoided the Holy Week rush and have chosen to go home to the provinces after the holiday break.

Gilbert Suarez, from Pampanga, will travel Monday to Sorsogon for vacation. He said he has chosen to travel after Holy Week as he gets dizzy in crowded places.

"Ayaw po namin sumabay, para less hassle. So napagdesisyunan na magpaalam sa boss ko na after Holy Week magbakasyon," Suarez added.

Lucio Castillo, on the other hand, did not want to line up to buy bus tickets and deal with traffic going to the provinces last week, so he also chose to travel to Sorsogon today.

"Masyadong siksikan kasi ayaw ko makipagsabayan. Mas okay na 'yung ganito kaunti lang ang pasahero," Castillo added.

The PITX management and the Department of Health advised travelers to hydrate amid the hot weather.

This morning, some trips to Sorsogon and Lucena City were canceled due to a lack of passengers and buses.

However, according to bus companies, trips will continue even if there are only a few passengers.

According to the PITX advisory, the passenger count is not expected to reach 100,000 because many have also returned to Metro Manila in the past few days.

As of 3 p.m. foot traffic in PITX has reached over 69,000.