Yanson feud – what’s right is right-2

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

 

As written yesterday, Olivia Yanson who filed the trespassing case in Dumaguete does not own a share in VTI. Also, the “prosecutors deemed that the siblings could not be said to have trespassed the property as it was VTI — where the Yanson Four have a stake (and) had been using it,” Atty. Narvasa said.

The decision also noted that the death of Ricardo Yanson Sr. meant that his children became co-owners of the property, but the prosecutor did not add to its decision that the complainant, Olivia was no longer a co-owner, and as such she has no legal standing to complain.

Of course her complaint indicates she does not recognize her exclusion as heir but her challenge is still in court. Thus the prosecutor’s decision is mainly founded on the recognition that the Yanson 4 are co-owners.

“Due to this (ownership), as well as the pending intra-corporate case in Bacolod City, it cannot rule on the Y4 or their representatives being stripped of their authority to enter it,” the Narvasa statement read.

Narvasa further said that “as for the charge that the Y4 should be liable for the change of security personnel in the property, the Regional Prosecutor averred that such ‘issue involves administrative and managerial protocols which this Office has no basis to tackle without any evidence or legal basis to begin with’”.

The Yanson 4 lawyers recalled that the decision in the Dumaguete case is the latest victory for the Yanson Four. Last July, the Department of Justice junked the carnapping and other cases filed against the four for insufficiency of evidence.

The news report continued to say that “in July 2019, Leo Rey was ousted as VTI president in a boardroom coup led by his older brother Roy. However, Leo and matriarch Olivia, who also co-founded the company, insisted that the takeover was illegal and that Leo should remain as president.”

To call the ouster of Leo Rey as president by the Yanson 4 as a “coup” implies that the takeover was extra-judicial and forcible. A “coup” generally carries a bad connotation. In truth the removal of Leo Rey was a legal and regular exercise of the right of ownership. The Yanson 4 owned over 65% of the shares and they voted for Roy.

There was no colaphus (the Latin origin of “coup”) or need for betrayal in their action as to render the removal of Leo Rey an injustice. A corporate president and other officers always derive their authority from the indulgence of the majority stockholders. Once the trust of the majority no longer exists, the right of the majority to remove is not a coup or violation but proper exercise of rights.

That is how things work and social stability and harmony are preserved. On the other hand, when the minority by force and clever manipulation takes over power without the consent of the majority, then chaos reigns. This is exactly what happened in the VTI.

The minority claiming majority right and using the power and weapons of the police, staged a coup against the rightful majority of the company – the Yanson 4.

That real coup was staged in August 2019 when Olivia, Ginnette and Leo Rey held a meeting during which they constituted themselves as the majority when they are not and elected a new board of directors and reinstalled Leo Rey.

The Yanson 3 meeting was called a “rump”. Though the term means the hind of an animal, it likewise refers to the meeting convened by the remnants (minority) after the others (majority) had left, making it appear as a majority decision.

The police swallowed the order of the officers of that rump stockholders meeting. As in a military coup, the power grabbers are kept in place only by force.

We subscribe to the principle that what is right is right. Thus the perch of the Yanson 3 is sustained not by right but by force.

The Yanson 4 sought protection for their rights in our courts but so far the courts have not resolved the issue. Although the Yanson 4 know the legitimacy of their claim, they exercised patience trusting in the courts because as in other cases filed against them showed, they stand firmly on what is right.