By: Francis Allan L. Angelo
IT’S NOT over yet.
This was the reaction of Roy Yanson to the decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 53 in Bacolod City to junk his application for a 72-hour Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against his brother Leo Rey Yanson.
To recall, Roy and Leo Rey are jostling for control of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies (YGBC) which operates Ceres Bus Liner, one of the biggest transport firms in Visayas and Mindanao.
Roy and his three other siblings replaced Leo Rey as president and chief executive officer of YGBC almost a month ago.
Consequently, Roy’s camp filed a suit docketed as Commercial Court Case No. 19-120 in a bid to stop Leo Rey from “committing acts prejudicial to the interests of the company which he is still serving as member of the board.”
Roy and company alleged that Leo Rey was hampering the movements and decisions of the new management group in running the operations of their company.
The case included an appeal for the TRO and an injunction against Leo Rey.
But in a decision dated July 19, 2019, RTC Branch 53 Judge Eduardo Sayson denied the plea for the 72-hour TRO.
Roy, however, is unperturbed by the RTC decision.
“While the order denied the 72-hour TRO application, it allowed us to present evidence to prove our entitlement to an injunction. We complied and presented a bus conductor who showed the court a video he took on Sunday, July 14, 2019 using his cellphone covering the insistence of Vallacar employees to continue working, not to disrupt company operations, and defy instructions of the labor union to pretend that they are protesting the change in management and will go on strike if so,” Roy said in a statement.
The court decision also does not mean that Leo Rey can continue defying the new management.
“The denial of the 72-hour TRO did not mean that Leo Rey Yanson can do what he wants. By participating in our TRO application, Leo Rey agreed to subject himself to the sole authority of the court to resolve the issues between him and us. The order simply expressed the court’s preference to hear more about why we, the majority members of the Board, want to ensure that Leo Rey and his supporters are restrained from committing acts that do nothing but harm our company.”
Roy said the RTC order also does not resolve the issues raised by Leo Rey “but recognises his right to present contrary evidence to repel our claims should he have any.”
“The present Management remains the lawful and sole authority to manage the 5 companies under the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, including Vallacar Transit, Inc.”
The next hearing on the case is tomorrow where Roy’s camp will present more evidence against their beleaguered brother.
“The continuation of the hearing on the petition for injunction is set on July 26 at which time we will continue presenting evidence to demonstrate acts of Leo Rey that defy the court’s sole power to resolve the issues he himself had brought to it to address. As President of Vallacar, I ask our fellow employees to work together to support the present leadership. We must resist efforts at breaking up the company which we so loved for the past 50 years. This is our company and our family which we have lent most of our time and efforts to,” he added.
