BY MAE SINGUAY AND DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A municipal trial court in this city issued warrants of arrest against four Yanson siblings and several others charged with grave coercion after assuming the management of Vallacar Transit, Inc. (VTI), the country’s largest bus company.
However, the legal counsel of the so-called “Yanson 4” denied this.
Judge Abraham Bayona of the Municipal Trial Court Branch 7 issued warrants of arrest against Emily Yanson, Roy Yanson, Ricardo Yanson Jr., and Maria Lourdes Celina Yanson Lopez, as well as Jerica Leanne Ramos, Jerina Louise Ramos, Ma. Judy Alcala, Police General Noli Romana, and Police Colonel Jomil John Trio.
Bayona, in a March 20 order, found probable cause against the so-called “Yanson 4” and several others for the takeover of VTI from incumbent president Leo Rey Yanson last year.
Bayona recommended a bail of P36,000 for each of the respondents for their temporary liberty.
An arraignment hearing has been set on July 10 at 8:30 a.m.
Last July 7, 2019 the Yanson 4, backed by security guards of A-Y 76 Security Specialists, Inc., took possession and control of VTI’s main office.
The Yanson 4’s legal counsel Carlo Joaquin Narvasa said in a statement that a hearing of a case for grave coercion was indeed conducted but he denied that a warrant of arrest was issued.
Narvasa further explained that the issuance of a warrant of arrest, if any is forthcoming, does not at all detract from the presumption of innocence of the four Yanson siblings – a basic constitutional right of anyone charged in court.
The charge was also bailable, he added.
Founded by the late Ricardo Yanson Sr. and wife Olivia, the 52-year old VTI is the company behind Ceres Liner, Ceres Tours, Sugbo Transit and Sugbo Tours with a fleet of 4,800 buses nationwide and 18,000 employees.
It provides transport services to 700,000 passengers in Bacolod City, Iloilo city and province, Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental, Cebu city and province, Cagayan de Oro City, Butuan City, Davao, Pagadian City, Dipolog City, Bohol and Batangas provinces./PN
