A Bacolod City judge has ordered the arrest of four Yanson siblings and their accomplices for alleged grave coercion when they tried to take over the management of Vallacar Transit Inc. from its incumbent president Leo Rey Yanson in July 2019.
Judge Abraham A. Bayona of Branch 7 of the Municipal Trial Court of Bacolod City approved the release of the warrant of arrest against Emily Yanson, Roy Yanson, Ricardo Yanson Jr., Maria Lourdes Celina Yanson Lopez, Jerica Leanne Ramos, Jerina Louise Ramos, Ma. Judy Alcala, PGen. Noli Romana and PCol. Jomil John Trio.
Judge Bayona issued the order during a hearing on May 29, 2020 of Criminal Case No. 20-03-34459 for the charge of grave coercion against the accused.
In an earlier order dated March 10, 2020, Judge Bayona found probable cause against the Yanson siblings and their accomplices for the crime of grave coercion and set their bail at P36,000, each.
“After careful evaluation of the resolution of the investigating prosecutor and the supporting documents pursuant to Section 6(b) in relation to Section 6(a) of Rule 112 of the Revised Rule on Criminal Procedure, the court finds probable cause exists and that there is a necessity of placing the accused under the immediate custody so as not to frustrate the ends of justice,” Bayona said in his order.
The court set the arraignment of the accused on July 10, 2020 at 8:30 am.
The case stemmed from the four Yanson siblings’ illegal takeover of the management of VTI last year. The four Yanson siblings, backed by the security guards of A-Y 76 Security Specialists Inc., took possession and control, with intent to gain, of VTI’s main office on July 7, 2019.
Established in 1968, the 52-year-old VTI founded by the late Ricardo Yanson Sr. and his wife Olivia V. Yanson, is considered the largest bus conglomerate in the Philippines transporting goods and 700,000 passengers daily. It is the company behind Ceres Liner, Ceres Tours, Sugbo Transit and Sugbo Tours.
VTI has 15 terminals across Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. The Yanson Group, the parent company, operates 4,800 bus units run by 18,000 employees. VTI’s main office is located at Ceres Compound, Purok Himaya, Mansilingan, Bacolod City.
On July 7, 2019, the four Yanson siblings in a purported special board meeting, unceremoniously unseated Leo Rey Yanson as president of VTI. Leo Rey was subsequently replaced by his eldest brother Roy Yanson but Leo Rey, with the support of his mother, Olivia V. Yanson and sister Ginnette Y. Dumancas, refused to step down.
The four Yanson siblings replaced AGNSA Security Agency with AY-76 Security Guards, using as a cover and means a purported Philippine National Police-Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies (PNP-SOSIA) order issued by PBGen. Romana.
VTI said the SOSIA order turned out to be illegal and invalid as testified by SOSIA Order dated August 2, 2019 signed by PCol. Michael John F. Dubria.
The Philippine National Police-Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies (PNP-SOSIA) issued an order to reinstall the security guards from AGNSA at VTI’s main office on August 2, 2019.
Subsequently, VTI held its annual shareholders’ meeting on December 7, 2019 at the company’s principal office at Ceres compound, Barangay Mansilingan in Bacolod City.
The stockholders elected matriarch Olivia V. Yanson, Leo Rey Yanson, Ginnette Y. Dumancas, Charles M. Dumancas, Arvin John Villaruel, Anita G. Chua and Daniel Nicolas Golez as members of the board of directors.
The elected directors will serve for one year until December 2020, or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified.
The meeting was presided over by incumbent VTI chairman and president Leo Rey Yanson, with Olivia V. Yanson as corporate secretary.
Following the election of the directors, the board held an organizational meeting and re-appointed Leo Rey Yanson as president of the company and Olivia V. Yanson as treasurer and corporate secretary.
The stockholders also ratified the acts of the board of directors led by Leo Rey V. Yanson.
