New bus route between Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato cities opens

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY –– A new bus route has opened between the cities of Cagayan de Oro, the seat of Northern Mindanao, and Cotabato, the seat of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) by the Yanson family-owned Rural Transit Mindanao, Inc. (RTMI).

The route passes through an alternate national highway that snakes through Bukidnon province’s border with Lanao del Sur, parallel to the longer Sayre highway.

From Cagayan de Oro City, the route passes by Bukidnon’s Talakag and Kalilangan towns; Lanao del Sur’s Wao town; Cotabato’s Banisilan, Alamada, Libungan, and Pigcawayan towns; and Maguindanao’s Sultan Kudarat town, on to Cotabato City.

Seven trips originate from Cagayan de Oro, while six from Cotabato.

Trips from both ends start at 5 a.m.; the last at 11 a.m.

In Cagayan de Oro, a ride through the route emanates at the Westbound Bus Terminal and the Mindanao Star bus terminal in Cotabato.

Aminoden Guro, director of Northern Mindanao’s Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, said RTMI was granted provisional authority for 15 buses to ply the new route.

Guro said the new route is expected to help enhance interregional connectivity in Mindanao, and hopefully, contribute to the recovery of the local economy.

Celer Estologa, Yanson Group of Bus Companies legal and media relations manager, said the new route cuts travel time by three hours compared with the traditional Sayre highway route passing through Bukidnon.

LZB