Yanson kin files perjury, falsification complaints after acquittal

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — Antonio “Tony” Zerna, a 78-year-old retired executive of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, has filed separate criminal complaints against family matriarch Olivia Yanson and her son, Leo Rey Yanson, over allegedly false sworn statements used in a carnapping case that ended in his acquittal.

Zerna, represented by human rights lawyer Dino de Leon, announced details of the complaints during a news conference Thursday at Benjamin Hall in Bacolod City.

Zerna filed a complaint for falsification of a private document against Leo Rey before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Batangas City on July 3.

Six days later, Zerna filed complaints for perjury and falsification against his cousin, 92-year-old Olivia, before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Bacolod City.

De Leon said the complaints seek to hold accountable those allegedly responsible for executing documents containing false statements that led to the filing and prosecution of the carnapping case against Zerna.

“This is about the truth,” De Leon told reporters.

The complaint against Leo Rey challenges a Feb. 8, 2021, certification in which he allegedly stated that Zerna was not authorized to possess or use the Toyota Fortuner assigned to him as a service vehicle.

De Leon said the certification also stated that company records showed Zerna had not been authorized or sanctioned by the Ceres Transport Inc. board or any company officer to use, possess, utilize or appropriate the vehicle in any manner.

The complaint against Olivia concerns a secretary’s certificate that purportedly authorized the filing of the carnapping complaint against Zerna.

It also involves general information sheets Olivia allegedly filed as corporate secretary that changed the declared composition of CTI’s board and shareholders.

De Leon said the documents were used to support the claimed corporate authority behind the filing of the carnapping complaint.

Zerna was arrested in 2020 after a carnapping complaint was filed against him before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental.

The complaint was later dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

A second carnapping complaint was filed against Zerna before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Batangas City in March 2022.

In November 2023, the trial court acquitted Zerna after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove the carnapping charge.

The court also recognized the intragroup corporate dispute within CTI and ruled that Zerna possessed the vehicle with color of authority.

De Leon said Zerna’s wife of 50 years died two months before the acquittal after experiencing severe stress that he linked to the case.

“The mere acquitted is not enough. If we don’t fight back, this will happen again and again,” De Leon said.

The complaints ask prosecutors to determine whether the allegedly false sworn statements in the certification and secretary’s certificate constitute perjury and falsification under the law.

De Leon said the complaints also seek justice for Zerna, who was arrested twice, detained for 24 hours, and publicly accused before his acquittal.

The complaint alleges that Olivia falsely certified under oath that she was CTI’s duly elected and incumbent corporate secretary.

It also alleges that Olivia falsely stated that the company’s board had held a special meeting with a quorum and validly authorized the filing of the carnapping complaint.

De Leon said the documents became material to the filing and prosecution of the case.

“For decades, Mr. Zerna faithfully served the Yanson Group, yet he found himself facing criminal charges. The court eventually acquitted him. It is only right that those who executed false sworn statements that became the basis of his unjust prosecution should be held accountable,” De Leon said.

Zerna began working for the Yanson Group in 1969 and later became general manager of its Mindanao operations.

He worked closely with the late Ricardo Yanson Sr. and continued assisting with company operations after Yanson’s death.

“I’ve done good things for the interest of the company. I put my hard work in it,” Zerna said.

Zerna said all the allegations against him were fabricated.

Despite the cases, Zerna said he hoped the family would resolve the corporate dispute that has divided it since 2019.

The dispute has split members of the Yanson family into opposing factions and generated multiple court cases over the control and management of the family’s bus companies.

Olivia and Leo Rey had not publicly responded to Zerna’s complaints as of Thursday.

In a separate development, courts in Bacolod and Pasig recently issued 12 arrest warrants against siblings Emily Yanson, Ma. Lourdes Celina Yanson-Lopez, Roy Yanson, and Ricardo Yanson Jr. in qualified theft cases.

The charges involve the alleged unauthorized withdrawal of more than PHP 803.47 million from Mindanao Star Bus Transport Inc. accounts during the family dispute in 2019.

Court records cited in a March 17 ruling showed that three of the siblings left the Philippines on March 7, 2020, while Ma. Lourdes Celina had not recorded a return since 2005.

The Bacolod court declared the four siblings fugitives from justice and barred them from seeking judicial relief until they surrender and submit to its jurisdiction.

The qualified theft cases remain pending, and the four siblings have not been convicted of the charges.

The Yanson Group includes Vallacar Transit Inc., Mindanao Star Bus Transport Inc., Bachelor Express Inc., Southern Star Bus Transit Inc., Gold Star Bus Transit Inc., Rural Transit of Mindanao Inc., and Ceres Transport Inc.