TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Victory Liner Bus Company has sent its historic bus to Tabuk City so that residents and visitors can “journey back in time” as they experience the first bus to ever sail northern Luzon’s highways!
It has been parked at the City Hall compound for the three primary days of the Matagoan Festival, which run from June 24 to 26.
It will be noted that the Victory Liner which started operating on the Manila-Tabuk route in 1995 continues to be the main bus company serving Tabuk passengers bound for Manila.
Cely Aguilar, the original Tabuk booker of the company said that at the start, the Victory Liner had a pair of air conditioned buses for the Manila line and in 1996, made daily ordinary bus trips to and from Dagupan City, Pangasinan.
The company would gradually add more buses to its Tabuk operations and is no longer using ordinary buses for their trips.
During an interview with Operations Manager Ronald Sarmiento, he mentioned that their ordinary air conditioned buses were either 45 or 49 seaters, their deluxe caters to 31 passenger seats and the super deluxe had 29 passenger seats.
They now offer sleeper buses to provide further comfort to commuters. According to Sarmiento, the deluxe buses include television, a comfort area, and WiFi, and all of them have surveillance cameras and navigation systems “for complete commuter safety.”
Sarmiento said that the opening of the Tabuk route in 1995 was a proof of the company’s adherence to provide transport services in places with limited buses travelling to Manila.
Founded by Jose Hernandez during the Second World War, the Victory Liner is one of the country’s biggest provincial buses with a fleet of 950 buses serving key destinations in Northern and Central Luzon. By Darwin S. Serion