Pabama Transport
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Founded | 1998 |
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Headquarters | Kibawe, Bukidnon province, Philippines |
Service area | Northern Mindanao |
Service type | Intercity coach service |
Destinations |
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Fleet | 60 units (Ankai, Yaxing, & Zhongtong) |
Operator | Pabama Corporation |
CEO | Sirjohn Panis |
Website | http://www.pabama.ph |
Pabama Transport, also known as Pabama Tours and Pabama Transport and Tours Corporation, is a bus company based in Kibawe town, Bukidnon province in the island of Mindanao in southern Philippines. It serves the routes between the city of Cagayan de Oro, the province of Bukidnon and the city of Gingoog.
A local provincial bus line with humble beginnings, it was the first bus company in the country to introduce the luxury bus with on-board tablets[1] and the double-decker provincial bus.[2]
History[]
The company was founded in 1998 by the Panis family based in Kibawe, Bukidnon. It started out as a local provincial bus line serving the Malaybalay-Kibawe-Kadingilan route using used-up second hand minibuses, and later added both bought and locally assembled low-grade provincial buses on their fleet. While it continued to be so throughout the whole 2000's decade, during the same time period it often copied the livery of its rival Rural Transit to give the impression that it was a subsidiary of the giant company when in reality it was not, as a marketing strategy and to better secure the preferences and tastes of the commuters.[3]
As Pabama Transport entered the 2010s decade, it began reforming its fleet, procuring several second-hand units acquired from Holiday Bus to augment its fleet. At the same time, the bus line entered the Cagayan de Oro-Kibawe-Damulog route for the first time to expand its service area.
The moment the company acquired its first units from Ankai in year 2015, it also started to copy the Rural Transit's practice of naming their airconditioned units into 'Tours', and thus the Pabama Tours was conceived. That same year, it entered the Cagayan de Oro-Balingoan-Gingoog route as it bought D&C Express the same year and integrated its operations to the company.
In 2017, they became the first bus line in the Philippines to have luxury bus with on-board tablets per seat, which they all bought from Zhongtong Bus Holdings. The next year, they once again became the first bus line in the country to have double-decker buses which they procured from the same bus manufacturer. These acquisitions effectively graduated the company from a small local provincial bus line into a large first-class executive coach service company.
Fleet[]
Pabama Transport has the proclivity of putting the label Immaculate Conception in front of its buses, owing to the deep-seated Christian faith of the operator family.
- Zhongtong LCK6148H Giant Magnate Double-Decker
- Zhongtong LCK6128H Magnate
- Ankai HFF6108
- Ankai HK6608K
- Yaxing YBL6855H2QCP
- Asiastar JS6603GB
- Aspire Daewoo Ankai HFF6108 non-aircon replica
- Locally-built coaches
Routes of service[]
All the listed routes below are serviced vice versa.
- Cagayan de Oro to Kibawe via Malaybalay, Valencia, Maramag, Don Carlos
- Malaybalay to Kadingilan via Valencia, Maramag, Don Carlos, Kibawe
- Malaybalay to Damulog via Valencia, Maramag, Don Carlos, Kibawe
- Cagayan de Oro to Gingoog via Balingoan
Ever since the company expanded its operations across northern Mindanao, it had been proposing to enter the routes of Cagayan de Oro to Davao[4] and Cagayan de Oro to Butuan.
See also[]
- List of bus companies of the Philippines
- Rural Transit of Mindanao
- Super Five Transport
References[]
- ^ New Pabama Bukidnon buses complete with tablets and tray
- ^ Jigger J. Jerusalem. "Firm says double-decker buses safe for Bukidnon". Sun.Star. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- ^ Pabama Tours
- ^ Pabama adds double-decker bus units to serve new CDO-Davao route soon
External links[]
- Bus companies of the Philippines
- Transportation in Mindanao