Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management

Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

MTTE 521 PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Workshop 2
July 09, 2016

Successful Story of the Yanson Group of Companies (Vallacar Transit, Inc.)

Introduction:
The Yanson Group of Bus Companies is one of the largest land transport company in the
Philippines. It comprises Ceres Liner, established in 1968, Ceres Transport, Inc., established in
2009, Rural Transit of Mindanao Inc. (RTMI), established in 1985, and Bachelor Express Inc.,
also established in 1985.
This family-owned and managed business has grown from a lone 14-seater jeepney plying
a single route, to a conglomerate of transportation companies with a combined number of
operating units of a little over 2000 transport vehicles as of January 2008, operating in nearly 80
percent of the bus routes in the Visayas and Mindanao regions as well as some part of Luzon in
the Philippines. The company pioneered inter-modal services between Negros and Cebu,
Mindanao and Leyte, and Panay and Luzon. It also pioneered inter-modal transport services
utilizing the Strong Republic Nautical Highway from Cubao in Quezon City to Zamboanga City.
The company was founded in 1968 by Ricardo B. Yanson and his wife, Olivia Villaflores
Yanson, beginning with the purchase of one jeepney unit. This effort ultimately became a
jeepney-assembly business. In the early 70's, the market was flooded with Ford Fieras; the
couple decided to diversify into a small bus line which plied the Bacolod City-Valladolid route
and christened it Ceres Liner.
By 1980, Ceres Liner had covered the whole province of Negros and in 1981, they
ventured into Mindanao. They bought out Fortune Express and Bachelor Express, both Cagayan
de Oro-based bus companies in 1985, and formed Rural Transit of Mindanao, while retaining the
name of the latter, as one of the conditions of the contract of sale. In 2005, the conglomerate
bought out Lilian Express Inc. and sister company Mary May Express, its fiercest business rival
and became the dominant transit company in the island of Mindanao. In 2007, its buses
pioneered travel through the Western Nautical Highway. Philtranco pioneered bus travel through
the eastern nautical highway and is the only bus line running the Manila to Davao City route.

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Today, the corporation presides over a transportation business with 7,500 direct and
active employees, and 2,000 buses serving the island of Negros, Panay, Cebu, Samar-Leyte,
Mindanao, and Batangas City.

Successful Strategies:
It is widely known in the Visayas and Mindanao and even in Luzon that the Ceres Line,
Rural Transit and Bachelor Express of the Yanson Group is very popular in terms of bus/land
transport.
The success of the company is a rags-to riches story from a simple jeepney unit
purchased in 1968 by husband-wife tea Ricardo and Olivia Yanson of Negros Occidental.
The company stand and stays with their Vision, Mission, Slogan and Core Values.
Vision:
By providing safe, comfortable and dependable buses, we make sure that people and
goods can move to different geographical spaces of the archipelago, contribute to our national
growth and help preserve the patrimony of the Filipino nation.

Mission:
"We are a land-based transportation company, engaged in a bus body assembly and
engineering, and our sole purpose, both in mind and heart, is to passionately serve the riding
public from all walks of life.
Slogan: "First In Service, Foremost In Fleet Maintenance
Core Values:
WE believe in the value of HARD WORK; that perseverance and persistence in achieving
personal as well as organizational goals are important.
WE believe in the value of being GOD-LOVING; that everything is possible through Divine
Providence and without HIM, none is possible.
WE commit ourselves to have unceasing and unwavering PASSION FOR CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT in all our undertakings, may it be personal, organizational and for our country.
WE implore the help and intervention of our ALMIGHTY GOD, to guide us always, and
light our paths, so we will be in safe hands.
With these Company CORE VALUES and DIVINE PROVIDENCE we will be able to achieve
our VISION, MISSION and GOALS.

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

So that, the Yanson Group of Companies will continue to exist and be of service to the
riding public, to the community, and to our dear country, PHILIPPINES.
The success of the company relies more on their effort and strategies in running the
business: with the following series of VENTURING to other islands and provinces of Luzon,
Visayan and Mindanao, and ACQUIRING other bus companies which was their competitor.
a. This effort ultimately became a jeepney-assembly business. In the early 1970s, the market
was flooded with Ford Fieras; the couple decided to diversify into a small bus line which
plied the Bacolod-Valladolid-La Carlota route (hence, VallaCar), and christened it Ceres
Liner, after Ricardos youngest sister.
b. By 1980, Ceres Liner was covering the whole province of Negros.
c. In 1981, the Yansons ventured to Mindanao. They bought out Fortune Express and
Bachelor Express, both Cagayan de Oro-based bus companies in 1985, and formed Rural
Transit of Mindanao, while retaining the name of the latter as one of the conditions of the
contract of sale.
d. In 2005, the conglomerate bought out Lilian Express Inc. and sister company Mary May
Express, its fiercest business rival, and became the dominant transit company in the
island of Mindanao.
e. In 2007, its buses pioneered travel through the western Nautical Highway [DapitanDumaguete-Bacolod-Iloilo-Caticlan-Kalibo-Roxas in Oriental Mindoro-Calapan-BatangasManila]. As part of their expansion to the western Nautical Highway route, and to
establish a line to Metro Manila, Ceres Transport was established in 2009 based in
Batangas City.
f. In 2011, the conglomerate bought out St. Jude Transportation Company, a bus line based
in Bohol, and renamed it Southern Star Bus Transit.
g. In 2013, they bought out CCJRC Liner, a bus line based in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte,
and integrated its operations with Bachelor Express Inc.
h. In 2014, the Yansons bought out Weena Express, a bus line serving Cotabato City, and
became part of Bachelor Express Inc.
Today, the Yansons Group of Companies are manufacturing their buses, and also operate
a fiberglass, recapping, brake lining, and battery plant.
Undoubtedly, Vallacar Transit is the largest bus company in the Philippines, and a shining
example of ingenuity.
In addition, the Yanson Group has the fleet management system which focuses in vehicle
maintenance and lifecycle management, health and safety management, fuel and oil
management, and driver and workforce management which made the company competitive and
growing in the land/bus transport industry of the country.
They have their maintenance department with four functions that is functional.

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not only having the four functions of the maintenance department, but every function is
really a functional standards and is therefore a functional department.

Electronic Wheel Assembly

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Open Brake Assembly

Practicing always the Mandatory Preventive Maintenance

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Having an engine dynamometer

Having an chassis dynamometer

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spare or Swing units for all major parts

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Having genuine parts and superior quality

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am surprised that their new body construction engineering is/are/were able to remodel old
buses to look like the modern buses

Having modern tools, equipment and facilities

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

One good thing of the company is the superb working environment

Fuel and Management System of every model

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The company give importance to their drivers and workforce like giving training program related
to their skills

They also inclined themselves to the KAIZEN for continuous improvement which in effect made
the company at advantage with other companies

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Another reason of the success of the company is that the present President of the
company always acknowledge the hardship, devotion and legacy of his parents in serving the
public. He recalled his father saying It is not about the company, or how big the company has
become but how much we have given back to the people. In a larger sense, the mission of the
Yanson family and VTI is not just about public transport. It is about connecting people, creating
job opportunities, and improving the quality of life and service to its passengers, he said.

The Future of the Company:

The company has the strategy in terms with their programs and projects. They may have
strategies in aligning, executing and measuring their programs and projects. They are in
constant movement and development of new model buses with full and best amenities. They are
also planning to acquire other bus companies. They may venture to other business of subcontracting the transport of the employees of the big companies.
There is/was even a hearsay that the company is trying to acquire the Super 5 Bus
Companty of Iligan City. They are trying to down the Super 5 by lowering their fare in
comparison to the standard fare. Like the ticket they issued from Iligan City to CDO or vice versa
is 145 pesos (for aircon buses) but they only collect 85 pesos in comparison to Super 5 which is
100 pesos.
There may be a possibility that the company will monopolize the bus transit for the whole
Mindanao which can lead them to have more profit.

Sources:
http://mindanaotimes.net/new-management/
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=transport-company-gets-newroute-by-buying-bus-firm&id=100391
http://dumaguetemetropost.com/index581.htm
http://www.mbcci.biz/best-performing-businesses-get-awards
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2016/July/04/topstory6.htm
https://www.facebook.com/Ceres-Liner-RTMI-Vallacar-Transit-325386977513721/?fref=nf
https://issuu.com/mindanaodaily/docs/may5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vallacar_Transit_Corporation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_Liner
http://busesofmindanao.blogspot.com/p/rtmibei.html

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

College of Policy Studies, Education and Management
Cagayan De Oro City, Philippines
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Submitted by:

Submitted to:

Victor S. Rosales
MTTE I

Dr. Ruvel J. Cuasito Sr., PECE

Professor