Yanson matriarch accepts honorary doctorate degree

Olivia Villaflores Yanson, the matriarch of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, accepted an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Negros Occidental–Recoletos on August 30, 2023, in Bacolod City.

"I wholeheartedly thank you for this acknowledgment and honor. I will treasure this Ph.D. degree as a testament to my achievements and my legacy to the world. I am so honored to be Dr. Olivia Villaflores Yanson," she said in her acceptance speech.

Yanson was conferred with a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management (Honoris Causa) in recognition of her contribution to the business world. She received the award from UNO-R president Rev. Fr. Joel Alve in a ceremony attended by her children Ginnette and Leo Rey, their families, and company executives and employees.

Fr. Alve said Yanson was awarded the honorary doctorate "in recognition of her invaluable contributions to the business sector and how she shared her blessings to the less fortunate people in our society as part of her corporate social responsibility."

Together with his late husband Ricardo Yanson Sr., Olivia, a nurse by profession, established Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI) in 1968, which grew to become the most significant public transport company in the country, operating 4,800 buses nationwide manned by 18,000 employees.

Yanson said her journey to entrepreneurship began as a nurse with a calling to serve humanity, compassion, and caring as the essential core elements of her profession. She studied nursing at Silliman University in Dumaguete City and practiced the profession after college before she and her husband decided to form a bus company.

"My husband, the late Ricardo Yanson, and I started a transportation business in our humble way and dreamed that someday the business will blossom into something more: being more profitable, serving more people who needed to be transported into places to attend to their own lives," she said.

She said it was never easy initially, as they faced hardships and challenges, including financial difficulties. They persevered until the business flourished and created more jobs in the communities.

"In our transportation business, there were numerous opportunities such as providing jobs to people and witnessing the realities of life for people who helped us in our business, such as our employees and their families. I have witnessed first-hand my employees' struggles with their lives as they continued to help us succeed in our business. I became so involved with their worries and successes, realizing that I was and am a big part of their lives," she said.

Being a nurse, Yanson found ways to give back to communities by sponsoring a group of physicians and surgeons from Pennsylvania in the US to come and perform surgery for needy families with children who had cleft lip and cleft palate in the Philippines.

"That was a gratifying mission as I saw the happy faces of children who were once withdrawn and shy because of their deformity transform into more confident children. This is God's work and not mine. I am merely a vehicle for the Almighty God's work here on earth," she said.

Yanson also helped support education by providing buildings and educational resources to schools and colleges and funding the education of underprivileged children. "I believe that through education, they will have a bright future and will be able to become better citizens of this country," she said.

She said while the business aspect plays a significant role for her, the humanity aspect of it is even more critical because human lives are at stake, which is precious.

"I speak for the past and the present because I feel and know that I am needed here to serve humanity. Being a nurse, a businesswoman, a mother, a grandmother, a good friend, a relative all amount to loving and serving humanity with compassion and caring, touching people's lives as I am there for them in God's will," said Yanson, a woman of strength, dignity, and resilience who has a generous heart and who is committed to her life's work.