BACOLOD City — Forty-two former employees of Vallacar Transit, Inc. (VTI) have filed criminal complaints before the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office against several company officials ahead of Labor Day.
The complainants alleged they were forced out of their jobs amid an internal family dispute over control of the transport firm.
The cases, filed as three counts of grave coercion under Article 286 of the Revised Penal Code, name three top company officials and other responsible officers as respondents. Their identities are being withheld by this paper pending their official statement, as efforts to obtain their side are ongoing.
Representing the workers is human rights lawyer Dino De Leon, who said the employees were unlawfully prevented from working or pressured into leaving their posts.
“We are here to defend 42 workers in relation to the violations committed against them in one of the largest bus fleets in Asia and seek justice for them,” De Leon said during a press conference on April 30 in Bacolod City, shortly after the filing of the complaints.
“The respondents prevented them from doing something lawful and compelled them into choices against their will,” he added. “They were placed in a position where they had to choose between their dignity and their livelihood.”
De Leon said the totality of circumstances points to the elements of grave coercion as defined under the Revised Penal Code.
The incidents allegedly stemmed from a leadership struggle within the Yanson family, which the complainants said disrupted company operations and restricted access to terminals and offices.
They further alleged that armed men and police were used to enforce control without court authorization.
The workers maintained they neither abandoned their jobs nor took sides in the family dispute.
“We were forced into a fight that had nothing to do with us,” the complainants said in their affidavits.
De Leon also linked the alleged abuses to what he described as a broader climate of impunity during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, which he said emboldened powerful interests to act without accountability.
Among the complainants, Alberto Cabalida Jr., a 10-year employee, said he received a termination notice in 2019 without clear explanation and was allegedly discouraged from contesting it. Another worker, Rancie Dela Vega, claimed he was dismissed without cause following a tense standoff at the company’s main office involving hundreds of police officers.
The complainants said the pattern of actions—including work stoppages, restricted access, and public identification of barred employees—resulted in the loss of their livelihoods.
They are now seeking accountability and justice through the courts./PN
