Additional criminal charges were filed against one of the members of the so-called Yanson four siblings and their lawyer, in connection with the family’s in fighting to control Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), the country’s largest bus company.
In a resolution dated September 20 released by the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office, Emily Yanson and one of their lawyers, Anna Isabella C. Galvez of Fortun Narvasa and Salazar Law Office, were both indicted on one count each of falsification of public documents and perjury.
The Yanson Four, composed of Roy V. Yanson, Ricardo V. Yanson Jr., Emily V. Yanson and Ma. Lourdes Celina Yanson-Lopez, tried to wrest control over the bus company in 2019, by unseating their youngest brother, Leo Rey, as president of the family business, and naming themselves as the new officers of the company.
The four unseated their brother and filed separate documents with the regulators such as stock transfer books and general information sheet to show that they were in control. They also initiated company’s stockholders’ meeting using these documents.
“As a lawyer she [Galvez] knows that she could be held liable for perjury by not declaring the truth therein. And yet, she made a statement in said GIS [general information sheet], under the guise of good faith, that Celina is the president, Roy, Emily and Ricardo as corporate officers, while Atty. [Carlo Joaquin T.] Narvasa, as VP for Legal and she as assistant corporate secretary when she knew for a fact that the true president is Leo Rey and Emily is not even a stockholder and not even one of the Y4 is an officer of VTI, among others,” according to the Makati Prosecutor.
An earlier resolution of the Department of Justice-Manila in March also said that mere inclusion of one’s name in a GIS does not automatically make one a stockholder of a corporation.
In two resolutions dated March 15, the DOJ-Manila found probable cause for five counts of falsification and five counts of perjury against Emily for her untruthful statements in the 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and Amended 2018 GIS of Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI), and additional three counts of falsification and three counts of perjury for her untruthful statements in the 2017, 2018 and Amended 2018 GIS of Bachelor Express Inc. (BEI).
The said two bus companies are units of Vallacar Transit, which has at least nine bus companies.
The DOJ-Manila found that mere inheritance of shares of stocks does not make a person a stockholder. “[T]o be considered as a stockholder, a certificate signed by the corporation’s president or vice-president, countersigned by the secretary or assistant secretary, and sealed with the seal of the corporation shall first be issued.” “In the instant case, respondent Emily failed to show any certificate of stock of BEI/RTMI issued to her name. Thus, it is clear that she failed to provide evidence of her interest and/or status in BEI/RTMI.”
“The mere inclusion of her name in the GIS of the corporation does not immediately make her a stockholder. Thus, her sudden inclusion in the list of stockholders in the GIS is unfounded and unsound.”
The group of the Yanson matriarch earlier this year declared that it is now in full control over the country’s largest bus company, operating some 4,800 buses nationwide manned by 18,000 employees.