A Regional Trial Court in Negros Occidental has declared four Yanson siblings “fugitives from justice” and stripped them of their right to seek court relief and participate in legal proceedings until they surrender to face qualified theft charges, a press release said Monday, April 6.
In a resolution dated March 17, Judge Jose Manuel A. Lopez of the Bacolod Regional Trial Court Branch 50 ruled that siblings Roy, Ricardo Jr., Ma. Lourdes Celina and Emily Yanson had evaded the law by staying abroad despite outstanding warrants for their arrest, the press statement from Dindo Danao, who represents the camp of Leo Rey and Olivia Yanson, said.
The court decision is the latest in a long-running management dispute within the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, which owns Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), the operator of Ceres Liner and the largest bus transport network in the Philippines.
“For the willful evasion by the accused of the Court’s jurisdiction, the accused should be sanctioned rather than rewarded. Their intent to evade prosecution is considered as a waiver of their right to adduce evidence and participate in the criminal case against them, they shall lose their standing in court and shall not be entitled to seek relief, until and unless they submit and commit to the jurisdiction of this Court,” Lopez said.
Court records show that three of the accused left the Philippines on March 7, 2020, just days before the country entered COVID-19 lockdowns. Ma. Lourdes Celina Y. Lopez has not recorded a return to the country since 2005.
The court noted that the siblings had been in “spectator mode,” hiring prominent legal counsel to represent them in every stage of the proceedings while they remained “untouched by our criminal law” in undisclosed locations, the press release said.
The resolution applied the “fugitive disentitlement doctrine,” a legal principle recently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in a related November 2025 ruling. The doctrine prevents individuals from utilizing the resources of the judicial system while simultaneously flouting its authority.
The qualified theft charges stem from allegations that the four siblings, acting as self-appointed officers of VTI, unlawfully took corporate assets and equipment during the 2019 power struggle, the press release said.
Under Philippine law, qualified theft is a non-bailable offense when the value of the property is high or involves a grave abuse of confidence, it said.
The court has scheduled a follow-up hearing for May 6, to monitor the status of the outstanding arrest warrants.
Under the new ruling, the accused will no longer receive court notices or be allowed to file motions until they physically submit to the court’s jurisdiction.
The Yanson Group operates thousands of buses across the Philippines, employing tens of thousands of workers.
Despite the legal turmoil, the company’s daily operations have continued under the management of Leo Rey Yanson and their mother Olivia Yanson, the press release said.*
[sibwp_form id=1]