The Court of Appeals order is not a judgement on the merits of the cases involving the documents in question neither is it to penalize the Yanson Four (Y4), they said on Sunday, Oct. 20.
In fact the decision is not yet final and subject to appeal, a press release from Roy Yanson, Ma. Lourdes Celina Y. Lopez, Ricardo V. Yanson Jr. and Emily V. Yanson, also know as the Yanson Four, said.
The four were responding to a press release from the camp of Olivia and Leo Rey Yanson over the July 30, 2024 amended decision of the Court of Appeals 20th Division requiring the Y4 to surrender certificates of title and related documents they allegedly previously admitted to be in their possession.
The Y4 said they are under no legal compulsion to submit these documents, particularly at the behest of Hernan B. Omecillo, the purported private complaining witness in the qualified theft case against the Yanson siblings.
The Y4 do not recognize Omecillo as the Chief Operating Officer of Vallacar Transit Incorporated (VTI) as he was never authorized by the legitimate Board of Directors to file the complaint and represent the corporation, the press release said.
As majority shareholders of VTI with 61.17 percent shares and of the Board of Directors, only they could legally appoint the COO of the company and have not appointed him as such, the Y4 said.
Omecillo is not a Yanson family member and therefore has no right to demand such an action against them whatsoever because the four are compulsory heirs of the founder of YGBC, the late Dr. Ricardo B. Yanson their father, making them the rightful co-owners of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, the press release said.
The Y4 have the perfect right under the law to safekeep the documents and other papers of the company, especially in the face of the forcible intrusion into the YGBC compound in August 2019 by the group of Omecillo with the aid of about three hundred policemen without a search warrant or lawful order from the court, it added.
On the contrary, the court denied Olivia and Leo Rey Yanson’s application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Y4 and illegally took over from the peaceful possession of Y4 – a clear disregard of the court’s authority, the press release added.
Thereafter, their faction fabricated criminal cases against the Yanson 4 including a purported qualified theft case, it added.
The Y4 believe that the other party’s request to place the documents and titles in court custody is in the nature of “fishing expedition” aimed at gathering evidence against them especially in the trumped-up case of qualified theft filed by Omecillo where evidence against them is scant to nil, the press release said.
The Y4’s majority ownership of the VTI is undisputed, it said.*