HONORARY DEGREE. Olivia Villaflores-Yanson (seated), with children Leo Rey Yanson (3rd from left) and Ginnette Yanson-Dumancas (3rd from right), together with Rev. Fr. Joel Alve (2nd from left), president of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos; Dr. Raul Alvarez (2nd from right), regional director of the Commission on Higher Education-Western; and other university officials during the conferment of the honorary doctorate on Yanson on Wednesday (Aug. 30, 2023). The 89-year-old businesswoman and philanthropist received a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management for her “manifold contributions to the world of business.” (PNA photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver)
BACOLOD CITY – The Bacolod-based Yanson Group of Bus Companies, the country’s largest bus firm, committed to sustaining its brand of service for Filipino commuters across the country on Thursday.
Yanson Group founder Olivia Villaflores-Yanson made the commitment after receiving an honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management from the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, with the approval of the Commission on Higher Education, for her “manifold contributions to the world of business.”
The conferment rite was held at the university gymnasium here on Wednesday.
“My husband and I started a transportation business in our humble way and dreamed that someday the business will blossom into something more: being profitable, serving more people who needed to be transported into places to attend to their own lives,” she said in her response-speech.
Popularly known as OVY, the 89-year-old businesswoman and philanthropist, co-founded Vallacar Transit, Inc. (VTI), the main subsidiary of the Yanson Group, with her late spouse Ricardo Yanson in 1968.
She was awarded a medallion and a diploma and was inducted into the Blue and Gold Alumni Association, in the presence of her two children, Ginnette Yanson-Dumancas, and Leo Rey Yanson, who sits as the president and chairman of the board for all operating companies of the Yanson Group.
The Yanson Group, whose units ply across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, operates a fleet of 4,000 buses with 18,000 employees across the county. It also owns Ceres Liner Travel and Tours, Inc.; Ceres Transport, Inc.; Mindanao Star Bus Transport, Inc.; Bachelor Express, Inc.; Southern Star Bus Transport, Inc.; Gold Star Bus Transit, Inc.; and Rural Transit (Mindanao), Inc. (PNA)
