CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE: Ceres bus workers ‘trapped’ in Yanson clan row

By: Dolly Yasa

THE matriarch of the Yanson clan appealed to her children to stop the alleged attempts to take over the terminals, branches, and head office of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies (YGBC) for the sake of the 18,000 employees.

In a July 18, 2019 open letter to her children, Olivia V. Yanson said “the past weeks have been difficult for me. In my old age, I was supposed to be resting and relaxing.”

Olivia addressed the statement to her children Roy, Emily, Celina and Ricardo Jr. who voted out their younger brother Leo Rey from the YGBC helm two weeks ago.

“Instead, you took control of our head office at Mansilingan and made yourselves the new officers of the company,” Olivia said.

She also asked her four children to respect the decision of their father Ricardo Sr.

“You talked about preserving your father’s legacy. This is not what your father and I wanted. We installed Leo Rey for a reason. For the past decade, I have seen that your father and I made the right decision. Our company has never been better. Every year, we keep breaking the previous year’s performance. It’s all because of Leo Rey.”

Olivia said management of the company is not an automatic birthright but based on merits.

“You had your chance to prove yourselves while your father was alive. He placed great value on merit and competence. Bearing the Yanson name does not automatically make you capable of handling this company. Despite this, Leo Rey did not neglect you. You have greatly benefited from his sacrifices in this company. You were given what is due you – all without you breaking a single sweat.”

“It pains me then that you will dare disrupt our company. You put all our employees, who have been loyal to us all these years into a state of fear and confusion,” Olivia added.

BIGGEST LOSERS

Olivia said YGBC employees will end up holding the bag because of the ongoing management dispute.

“I am old. Whatever the outcome of all our cases, you are still comfortably well off. Your father and I made sure of that. It is our 18,000 employees who are the losing party here: employees who constantly worry about their jobs as a consequence of obeying one party and disobeying the other.”

“If you can still find love and respect within yourselves for me, I simply ask that you stop your attempt of taking over the terminals, the branches and head office. Every time you bring your security forces and legal team to force yourselves in, our people experience anxiety and fear.”

The Yanson matriarch said Roy and company should also respect the decision of their employees.

“Please do not interrupt the peace and order of our commuters and employees by forcing yourselves to illegally take over the terminals, especially Bacolod North and Bacolod south. Our employees have spoken. Our 15 branches have spoken. They only recognize Leo Rey as president. If you insist on the legality of your claims, let the courts decide first before proceeding on any action against the terminals or against any employees loyal to me or LRY (Leo Rey).”

“If you will not listen to me because your hearts are already cold, listen to your 18,000 employees – the very same people who toil day and night to make us what we are now. They deserve that,” Olivia added