Having come to Bikol in the mid-1970s, I was familiar only with the Philtranco and the later Sarkies bus lines. But Niles Breis’s joke about a Pansit Transit in his novel Kalatraban sa Alkawaraan piqued my interest. An internet search revealed the photo of this bus that plied the Tabaco-Legazpi-Naga route; serendipitously, I saw the word “Raels” as part of the bus signage. Friend Damae Bitara’s hubby is Atty. Rael, and on the off chance, I asked him if he had any connection to the bus line. He turned out to be the grandson of Eutiquio Bitara Sr, one of two brothers who set up Pansit Transit! Rael gave me some information about the family’s bus line, which would have ended as a footnote for a module on Breis’s novel. Then the feature on ALATCO’s history by Leo Paulo Imperial in Dateline Ibalon caught my attention, and I thought, why not a sequel about another bus line with such a curious name and such an interesting story?

This article is based on interviews of children and grandchildren of Pansit Transit founders Marciano Sr and Eutiquio Bitara Sr of Malilipot, Albay: Wivina, the fourth child of Pansit Transit owner Marciano, with the help of her daughter Jordana B. Bona; Eutiquio’s son Prudencio ‘Deny’ Bitara; and Eutiquio’s grandsons by Rafael and Danilo Jr., Rael and Dan Arkhel. The fascinating data here could be handy for a case study on entrepreneurship and the ‘Multigenerational Family Business’ at the Asian Institute of Management.  

Two brothers and a weapons carrier

Marciano “Saning” and Eutiquio “Tiquio” Bitara founded Pansit Transit in 1949. Their father’s original surname was Chua and he had crossed to the Tabaco port in Albay from China to escape the life that had become quite oppressive for ordinary people. The family took on their mother’s surname, Bitara, to become Filipinos and settled in Malilipot, Albay. Born in 1920, Saning was the youngest, and Tiquio, born in 1907, was the eldest of five siblings.

A side note about the setting of this story: Malilipot comes from the word malipot or cold. Wivina’s daughter Jordana explains that the town sits in the shadow of Mayon Volcano but is sheltered from its eruptions by two protective mountains, Toktokan and Bulakawan. Residents of other towns evacuate to Malilipot to escape Mayon’s wrath. These mountains also keep the place cool; even the water that flows from their taps is cold. Busay Falls is one of the coolest tourist spots in Albay, she states.

Wivina, Saning’s fourth child, recalls how it all started.

My Pa, Marciano or Saning, could neither read nor write, but he was an entrepreneur at heart. He started in the barter trade, carrying bulky and heavy ware on foot over long distances on rough roads to exchange sinamay for clothing with rice and other products. He often had only one shirt on his back and salt in his lunch box. He was very hardworking, and I am still moved to tears when I think of his sacrifices in supporting our family at the time.

After World War II, American soldiers left some of their vehicles in Albay. At least one weapon carrier went to what was then Legazpi College, later renamed Aquinas University and now UST Legazpi. This eventually ended up in the hands of the wealthy Stilianopulos family. By the way, a Stilianopulus building still exists as a heritage building in the Legazpi port district area.

Pa’s eldest brother Tiquio was familiar with the transport business and spotted the weapons carrier. He then suggested that Saning, who had some money at the time, buy it from Stilianopulos and turn it into a transport service for Malilipot, Tabaco, and Ligao.

Saning followed Tiquio’s advice, bought the weapons carrier, and transformed it into a bus. In 1949, it became the first serviceable transport in that part of the region where residents could travel only on foot or in carts to other areas.

“Tiquio drove the bus and Pa was the conductor. There were no franchises and ticketing systems at the time. Fare was collected from the passengers, jeepney-style,” Wivina recalls. “Passengers paid what they could afford,” Deny adds. “Saning had full trust in his employees to remit the income from the buses. He wanted to help his employees to be able to afford their own houses.”

The first weapons carrier-turned-bus was large, unwieldy, and always overloaded, so Tiquio became increasingly afraid of accidents, according to Wivina. Tiquio asked Saning to buy another vehicle, this time a real bus. Saning started to buy buses from then on from International Harvester (IH). The bodies of the early buses were wooden–floor, walls, and seats, which were made of yakal.

Why Pansit?

Bansag, nickname or alias is a traditional practice in the Bikol region of calling a person, not necessarily unkindly at the time, for a physical feature, disability, occupation, habit, address, etc: Taba, Pilay, Mantika, Kagaw, Burias. Fortunately, this is no longer practiced today as it can be quite offensive. 

The first buses had no official name, according to Deny. The bus line eventually became known as Pansit Transit because Tiquio, who was managing the buses at the time, ordered pansit at every bus terminal where they stopped to eat. People in Naga in particular knew him well as someone who ordered pansit whenever he stepped foot in the city. Because of this, his bansag was pansit, and the family decided to paint the word Pansit Transit on its buses which also sported the colors of the Philippine flag.

Wivina adds,

Pa also maintained an automotive body-building facility. The engine and chassis was supplied by auto manufacturers but the body work was done in our backyard. The family maintained the buses and hired drivers and maintenance staff and fed all his employees. We had two kitchens, and the staff consumed one sack of rice in three days, so there must have been a lot of them! He provided livelihood to many people from both Malilipot and Daraga.

After each bus was completed, it was painted, and then driven to Tiwi, Albay to be blessed. Tiwi, because the Tiwi patron saint was believed to be miraculous. The blessing of each bus was an excuse for an excursion. Neighbors in San Francisco, Malilipot looked forward to the buses being blessed, para nakabiyahe na, nakasimba pa, according to Deny.

Saning’s family prospered. All his 11 children went to school, most of them in Manila. Wivina herself studied at La Consolacion College in Mendiola for the first three years, going home every week, as the train fare was only P7 and the plane fare was only P19 at the time. Even if they had gone to school, Saning’s children chose to be entrepreneurs rather than employees, most likely a value instilled by Saning and Tiquio.

The Bitara brothers and the next generation of bus owners grew the business until they had about 100 units in the late 70s. Deny still remembers the long parade of buses along the street.

Saning the Generous

Wivina remembers her father as a very generous person. Saning helped his siblings, his employees, and ordinary people in the community. Passengers paid what they could afford, Deny adds. When commuters from Tabaco were stranded in the evening, he gave them free rides back to Malilipot on his buses. He donated land for the use of the public school in his town. Saning gave one employee who was having difficulty commuting from his home to Malilipot a piece of land nearby for only 200 pesos. That property along the road is now valued at P4 million.

Deny says that as a child in the 1960s, he used to see Alatco, CAL, and Bitranco plying the route from Tabaco to Legazpi as their house was along the highway. These three big companies were Pansit’s competition for the Tabaco -Naga route. Fares were not yet regulated at the time, and Saning lowered the fare of Pansit Transit. “Kun an pamasahe kan Alatco, ten centavos, ki Pay Saning, seven centavos sana. Mababa lagi sya. Kaya halos nasolo ninda an byaheng Naga – Tabaco,” Deny recalls.

Saning’s generosity paid off when he was elected mayor of Malilipot in the early 60s. He was initially hesitant to get into politics as he felt he was not qualified. Fortunately, his niece Gloria Bitara, a teacher and his political adviser, tutored him in literacy. She instructed him to read the Bible regularly. He may have spelled hollow blocks as ‘halo blaks’ but he learned how to read and write, Wivina says. Upon learning to read, Saning read the Bible almost every day.

Wivina continues,

Pa served as mayor from 1963 to 1972. He had no vices except for a taste for good food, especially meat. He liked humba in particular, a Filipino-Chinese dish of tender pork, salted black beans, and banana blossoms, and buried it in the rice on his plate so that his wife wouldn’t see him indulging. His love for food probably contributed to his demise, as he died while in office in 1972 at the very young age of 52. The funeral procession for him was one of the longest in our town. People came in from all over to pay their respects. We were already at the cemetery while the tail end of the procession was still in the church.

Tiquio and ‘pakikisama’

Tiquio was the pioneer and the person Saning trusted and relied on most. As mentioned earlier, it was Tiquio’s idea to get into the transport business, and it is for him that Pansit Transit is named. But he did not buy a bus himself. When Saning became busy as the mayor of Malilipot in 1963, Tiquio kept the bus line running. He took charge of maintenance and repair operations at night in the late 1960s and 1970s, says Deny.

Tiquio was the main troubleshooter; his best weapon was pakikisama, the Filipino value of comradeship and getting along with others. When the company had problems such as accidents, Tiquio automatically took charge and ran to the scene.

“Dai-pigpapaumagahan ni Pay Tiquio an problema,” Deny remembers. He would go immediately to the site of the accident to give comfort and assurance to the family and pay for all the expenses “at inaareglo tulos. Kaya kaidto dai nagkakaso an Pansit Transit.”  

Minsan ang problema, bayad na, at pag naubos na si binayad na kuwarta may bigla na lang na minasulpot sa harong mi, masabi ‘Pay, baad makahagad pong kuwarta.’ Kakahoronon ito buda tatanan nya, basta ma-comfort lang. Apwera sa kuwarta, tatanan pa nin passes sa Pansit Transit na pinirmahan ni Pay Tiquio para makauli kun sain sya hali para dae na mamasahe.

Tiquio stressed the importance of transportation and the value of pakikisama to his family.He knew and got along with everyone at home and in Naga – driver, police, judge, they were all his friends, and they also called him Pay.

Like Wivina, cousin Deny remembers the heyday of Pansit Transit as a happy and prosperous one.

Sagana an pagkakan mi kan panahon. Mayong refrigerator kaidto, kaya aro-aldaw nagsasaod si Pay. Sa palengke nilalaan na saiya kan mga paratinda nin sira an pinakamarhay, lalo na kun igwang mga masisiram na isira arog kan banagan, lapu-lapu buda iba pa; siring man sa karnehan. Duwang dakulang basket an dara nya, an saro para sa Ilawod sa pamilya ni Saning; an saro para samo. Pag-abot papahatudan niya na su saiyang mga tugang asin mga aki.  Magayon an iribahan kan mga magturugang. Kabahagi gabos.

Second Generation: Saning’s Line

When Mayor Saning died while in office in 1972, his children continued the transport business. Six out of Saning’s 11 children bought buses for themselves. At a certain point, they started buying “Series 19” mini-buses, made by Mazda and Hino among others. These required less maintenance than the earlier buses. The bus line started giving out tickets in the mid-70s. Its bus terminal was somewhere on the Abella family property in Dinaga, Naga, Wivina recalls. Pay Tiquio continued to take care of the business through the 1970s, although he was getting on in age and passed in 1982. He was 75 years old.

The business started to wane in the early 1980s, at about the time of the country’s financial crisis. Many banks, including the DBP and the PNB, failed (Nascimento 1991). The collapse of the dictatorship was just around the corner.

However, both Wivina and Deny attribute the fall of Pansit Transit to stiff competition. “Guminolpe an auto, pati sa Rinconada, nagbarakal auto. Kan naaraman na magayon an kita, syempre, nagpurbar. Basta kaya bumakal, nagbabakal. Barato an mga Mazda; madaling makabakal,” Deny says. Some of the new bus owners worked for a while with Pansit to learn the ropes after which they became competitors. Wivina’s daughter Jordana explains,

You know how it is here in Bikol: “banana, batag, saging.” When one goes into a business that proves successful, everyone else in the area follows. In the first district of Albay, from Tabaco to Malilipot, many of those who had money decided to get into the transport business. Palces Bus Line for example comes from the same barangay as ours. There were too many competitors, so  Mommy decided to shift to a food business to support her children through school. They all have a knack for cooking good food, Mommy and Tiyo Pops too.

Grassroots Entrepreneurship

Wilvina’s and Deny’s stories showcase Pansit Transit’s contribution, first to Albay, and eventually to the Bikol region’s development. The Bitaras provided transport for those residing in remote places at an affordable price which the bigger bus lines did not or could not do. It opened markets for farmers, abaca merchants, and weavers in these areas. It also employed many drivers, conductors, carpenters, and mechanics. Many of their townmates in Malilipot were given livelihood and some became prosperous.

Pansit Transit is a triumph for Bikol entrepreneurship at the grassroots, demonstrating both resilience and creativity in making do with what was available at a time when the terms ‘repurposing’ and ‘upcycling’ were not used in the English vocabulary.

Most importantly, Pansit Transit’s ownership was homegrown, not foreign as in the case of the American-owned pioneer ALATCO, and all income was therefore plowed back into the local economy to benefit Malilipot and the neighboring towns. It also democratized ownership of a business that could have been monopolized by big Manila-based families or corporations. It was started by a no-read no-write Filipino who provided transport for those in remote towns not served efficiently by the bigger company.

The Bitara brothers were therefore 70 years ahead of the government’s “Go Lokal” program, said to be an act of patriotism, and a major step toward Filipinization of ownership and operation of facilities and services. The colors of the Philippine flag that the buses wore asserted Pansit’s Filipino-ness.

Second Generation: Tiquio’s Line

Fast forward to the turn of the millennium. In 2000, some of Tiquio’s children thought of reviving Pansit. His daughter Necita Bitara-Belen, and sons Rafael (Pops), Eutiquio Jr., Danilo Sr, and Raul bought second-hand vehicles and rehabilitated them. Together, they had more than ten buses that officially drove to Daet, and unofficially though only occasionally, to Manila. Raul used the name F. Bitara Line in honor of his eldest son Ferdinand. The “Richie” painted on the front of his bus is the name of his daughter, but the big signage on their buses was still Pansit Transit. Eutiquio Jr. and Pops also kept the name Pansit Transit on their respective buses. For Pops, this must have been his homage to his father and in memory of his once working as a conductor to send himself to school at Aquinas University, now the University of Sto. Tomas in Legazpi City. Rael also recalls that they once had a jeepney that ran the Magsaysay-Centro line in Naga City; it had the pansit colors but stopped operating sometime in 1988. Like Saning and Tiquio, Pops emphasized the value of hard work and entrepreneurship to his children. Even if they all trained for a profession, Pops’ three children went into business, Wivina said.

In early 2010, the government started phasing out old vehicles and required newer and upgraded bus types. Since upgrading was very expensive, all of their buses were phased out, such that only two Pansit Transit buses were left, an ordinary bus for Danilo Sr’s son Danny Francis, and an aircon bus for Eutiquio Jr’s son Rhenhard. They upgraded the buses to conform to the required standards; they did not use the original paint color of the bus line but still carried the body signage Pansit Transit.

In 2012, Danilo Sr had some money and decided to invest in a bus and a house, according to his second son Dan Arkhel. He purchased a bus, had it repaired, and operated it, using the name and colors of the original Pansit Transit. Dan Arkhel said that the bus plied the Bikol-Manila route on the South Road. It made some money and after two years, Danilo bought a jeepney and also dubbed it Pansit. That jeepney that plies the Goa-Presentacion line in Camarines Sur still exists.

Danilo Sr’s bus was phased out in 2018. He worked on getting another unit, made the downpayment, and worked on the documentation. He still owned the franchise when he passed on in July 2019 so he never got to see the unit.

The power of 18: Family and pride of place

Take a closer look at the Pansit Transit buses of Eutiquio Sr’s children and you will see two other common things among them: numerology and names. Like bansag, these seem to be markers of Bikol culture.

Numerology might explain the prevalence of the jueteng numbers game that seems almost impossible to erase in the region. I noted its importance in Breis’s frequent mention of the unlucky number 32 in his novel Kalatraban.

Rael attributes the use of the number 18 to the date of construction of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church in Malilipot. He also says that the family decided to adopt the number 18 because Tiquio had 18 children. In the case of Pops’ buses, his birthday and those of his wife and children figure in the bus numbers: 182229 and 182429.

Some will note that the number 8 is considered to be lucky in Asian cultures. It sounds like the Chinese word for wealth or getting rich in a short period. It also “appears naturally all over the world and carries the vibrations of universal life” (Bryant). Some Filipinos say 8 is lucky because it is written “upwards.”

Meanwhile, the primacy of family is obvious in the names painted on the front and back of the buses: Eutiquio Jr.’s buses have the words Mae painted in front in honor of his daughter and Rhen for his eldest son Rhenhard. Pops’ two buses had the name “Raels” as signage in honor of his three children, all with the middle name Rael. Danilo’s buses have the word “Dans” painted on their vehicles; all four sons likewise carry their father’s name.

Third Generation: The ‘Dans’ of Tiquio’s Line

Among the third generation of Saning’s line, Wivina’s son Darius also bought a bus but did not use the name Pansit Transit. The Covid-19 pandemic proved unkind to the business, so he eventually sold it and bought a truck to engage in the sand and gravel business, the true bulawan or gold of Malilipot, blessings from Mayon Volcano.

Nevertheless, Pansit Transit persists in the post-pandemic era via Tiquio Sr’s grandsons through Eutiquio Jr and Danilo Sr.  Rhenhard, Eutiquio Jr’s son, operates the blue and white bus with “R. Bitara” painted on the side and “Pansit Transit” at the back.

After Danilo Sr died in 2019 came the pandemic lockdown, and the bus he had ordered arrived only in March 2022. When it made a profit, operator Danilo Jr or Nono decided to buy a jeepney. Last November Nono bought one more jeepney, and in late May 2023, bought a third. Brother Cocoy also had a van but it met an accident in March 2021. He recouped his financial losses after four months and bought another van but hardly uses it now for long-distance travel.

Last March 2023, Dan Arkhel posted an ad on Facebook: “Summer na naman, oras na naman na magpalamig/ pumunta sa mga Resorts, yong magrerenta po jan ng Jeep, Van and Bus available po, yong bibyaheng probinsya po available din po Bus!  (PANSIT TRANSIT JEEP, VAN & BUS).” So in this third generation of Tiquio’s line, Pansit Transit has not only a bus but also jeepneys, a van, and a tricycle through the “Dans.” Among Danilo Sr’s six children, Janice Jane, Danny Franco (Cocoy), Danny Francis (Yayie), and Danilo Jr. (Nono) have persevered in the transport business.

All in all, the “Dans,” all professionals, have at least ten vehicles at present: Yayie has a 61-seater bus and two jeepneys. Cocoy has one jeepney for the Presentacion-Goa line and a tricycle. Nono has three jeepneys and one van. Their sister Janice has one jeepney with the Pansit signage.

Dan Arkhel says it is a struggle to keep the business going, but “Pilit naming binubuhay ang bus company na Pansit Transit.”  He is now thinking of buying a jeepney for himself, but he leaves to God the granting of his aspiration.

Kaidtong si Pa, an pangarap sana, makatarapos kami, makakua nin sarong bus, asin makaistar sa magayon na harong. Nakua nya ito ta kagustuhan nin Diyos. Iyo man si pangarap mi; makatapos si mga aki, magka-behikulo, asin magayon na harong. Kagustuhan man ‘yan nin Diyos kun makua mi.

Other core values are echoed here: faith and the necessary hard work to live a decent but not outrageously wealthy life, in contrast to those haunted, like D.H. Lawrence’s rocking-horse winner, by the unspoken “There must be more money! There must be more money!” It makes me think of the big capitalists who work their laborers to the bone, politicians who line their pockets with the people’s money, and business interests that thrive through selfish and unethical practices. What also comes to mind is the landed elite who had everything but blew it, in stark contrast to this family that had little and grew it.

Fourth Generation and Beyond

Deny sees the possibility of Pansit Transit living on in the fourth generation. He says “Danilo’s children have a passion for transportation, so I think they’ll see it through. They’re trying their best.”

Dan Arkhel says he has daughters and no sons, but “Who knows? One of them might be interested in the transport business eventually. After all, Pansit Transit has been serving the Bicolanos since 1949.”

If the bus’s name “Pansit” is true to its being a symbol of longevity and health, then the Bikol region may well see the fourth generation celebrating the transport line’s centennial mid-century with new units, perhaps e-vehicles or hybrids when the time comes.

After all, that’s just 25 years down the road.

The author acknowledges these sources and references: (1) various interviews with Bitara family members, Wivina Bitara-Bisoña, Jordana Bitara-Bona, Danny Arkhel Bitara, Prudencio ‘Deny’ Bitara, Rael Bitara, and Damae Bitara; (2) Megan Bryant’s “Numerology 8 Meaning: Universalism and Power”, from The Coolist; (3) Leo Paulo Imperial’s “The Pioneering Alatco Bus Company: Mobility in Early–Twentieth-Century Bicol”, from Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints; and, Nascimento, Jean-Claude, Crisis in the Financial Sector and the Authorities’ Reaction: The Philippines, in Banking and Crises: Cases and Issues, 1991 International Monetary Fund, eLibrary.