Despite the difficult circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, medical frontliners, public service & military officials, and community-based workers continue to serve the nation while braving the risks of contracting the deadly disease.
To help these essential workers along, heritage transportation company Victory Liner extended its services to help bridge frontliners to their workplaces and to help bring essential goods to crucial locations.
Major General Edgardo De Leon, Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations, J7, accepted on behalf of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) two refurbished Victory Liner buses, allocated to assist medical and support personnel reach several patient care centers (PCCs) around Manila. This donation was made possible through the Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat.
The buses, traversing the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), and the World Trade Center, are used to deliver essential medicines and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as vegetables and other produce to PCCs in need.
Naval Captain Jonathan Zata, Military Public Affairs Office Chief, thanked the company through its representative, Victory Liner Vice President John Edward Hernandez, for the support. In a time of scarce transportation options and general fear and uncertainty over movement for fear of spreading the virus, the assistance served as a signal of hope for military frontliners in their pursuit of helping improve the situation around COVID-19. “These efforts from different stakeholders and active members of society will enable the nation to win over this pandemic,” Zata enthused.
Continuing the Drop & Go service
Outside of Manila, Victory Liner also continues to support the logistics side of frontliner efforts through its point-to-point cargo and freight service Drop & Go.
Initially established in 2018 to help their customers with hassle-free cargo-related deliveries and errands, this convenient service is now being put to good use in transporting essential equipment and perishable goods to and from its terminal network.
One notable way the Drop & Go service has been utilized is by supporting farmer livelihood, in partnership with the Bangon Benguet initiative.
Led by the Department of Agriculture alongside Victory Liner, Bangon Benguet helps bridge the gap between the delivery of produce from farmers in provinces to consumers in the city especially in light of limited and suppressed transportation brought about by the enhanced community quarantine protocols.
Around 5,000 kilograms of produce that would have gone to waste—ranging from Baguio beans to broccoli, cabbage to cucumber, sweet potato (kamote) to wombok, priced at a max of P250 per kilo—were delivered from Benguet to Victory Liner’s Cubao Terminal for the initiative’s first wave.
First batch of orders were delivered last April 16-17, and the second wave of deliveries, which delivered 3000 more kilograms of vegetables, happened on April 24-25. As of Thursday, the Bangon Benguet initiative has helped around 48,000 farmers and their families.
Drivers of legacy through the years
As a heritage company of 75 years, Victory Liner has always made it a point to move people in better and safer ways by providing quality transport services — this is their dedication to the riding public, whatever the situation.
From humble beginnings transporting passengers between Manila and Batangas pier with the aim of simply putting food on the table, to transporting passengers amid lahar flows and road blocks from Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption, and through persistent storms and floods year-round, Victory Liner has been instrumental in moving what matters. The company also lends its buses to charities, relief goods operations, and other advocacies.
Lending a hand to create a legacy of healing as one nation through the value of Bayanihan is simply in Victory Liner’s DNA.
Victory Liner has become one of the largest bus transportation groups in the Philippines, serving in the country’s key destinations in Northern and Central Luzon with a fleet almost 1000 buses strong.
Through the years, Victory Liner has proven that the company values nothing more but safe and efficient transport service. With innovative and convenient contributions to nation building, the company prides itself for having been able to produce cargo solutions to connect gaps between sender and receiver.
