Beloved Dangwa Tranco

Dangwa buses are firmly etched in my memory: those that plied Trinidad, Acop, Camp Holmes and other points north, passed directly in front of our house in Trinidad Road, later named as Magsaysay Avenue. For students, the bus fare was five centavos, all the way to Trinidad. Today only a few short routes remain, from what was a great fleet of buses serving the Baguio-Manila route for many of the Baguio students studying in Manila. An article in the Inquirer of November 3rd by Delmar Cariño describes how the company grew:

“Born out of farmers’ investments in the 1920s, Dangwa Tranco became the people’s transport system before and after the World War II—ferrying students and vegetables to Baguio City and transporting the equipment of American-owned mining companies.The signature buses gave in to competition and high costs of maintenance for imported parts.

But the buses’ history remains very much part of the Cordillera landscape.

Dangwa Transportation Co. was founded in April 1928 by Bado Dangwa, one of Baguio’s “Centennial Builders” awardees. He became fascinated with junk machines and motor vehicles while in high school at the Trinidad Agricultural School (now Benguet State University) in La Trinidad, Benguet. At that time, the town was being groomed as the country’s vegetable bowl. Bado saw a bright future in starting a transport industry.

In 1972, the company had 264 buses, 66 cargo trucks, two “baby” buses, 77 taxicabs and eight garage cars in its fleet. In its roster were 1,963 employees, 1,698 stockholders and 36 destinations all over northern Luzon. The company branched out to nine other business ventures that involved electric distribution and animal and poultry raising.

But the increasing costs of operations caught up with the company.

The company though felt it was its corporate social responsibility to rehabilitate the buses since the investors were mostly farmers who bought stocks at P50 per share.That’s why the company had to re-fleet by acquiring new diesel-fed buses to replace old models. The buses were bought through loans where some company properties had to be used as collateral.

Thus the company managed to survive. The old “hardinera” (buses with one side open) were replaced.

The few remaining buses now bear the name “Jack Industrial Transport System.” But the people knew those red-yellow buses were their beloved Dangwa Tranco."