Legal counsel deems Ceres Mart closures ‘illegal’
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Following the back and forth between Yanson family matriarch Olivia Yanson and her daughter, Emily Yanson, surrounding the closure of the Ceres Mart location at the Ceres Bus Liner North Terminal, social media has been critical of the younger Yanson claiming she failed to show respect to her mother.
After the elder Yanson earlier penned a letter to her daughter about the store, noting, “You have not paid any rent for the use of office spaces in the ground floor of Ceres North Terminal since its opening last July 2015, where your Ceres Mart is located, I am respectfully giving you 24 hours to vacate.” Yanson offered a response to explain the ongoing situation.
“I would like to inform you that the property where Ceres Mart is located is currently situated in a building owned by Vallacar Transit Inc.,” she wrote. “Based on records, you are not one of the stockholders of said corporation and, therefore, you do not have authority whatsoever to demand for me to leave, vacate, and/or abandon the said property.”
“Furthermore, we had a family meeting wherein it was agreed that I would be able to use that property, among others free of any rent or charges,” she added. “There was a moratorium between us that I may use any property belonging to the company for a period of five years, free of any rent and /or charges.”
The elder Yanson subsequently padlocked the store in question.
Meanwhile, Atty. Sheila Sison, legal counsel for Emily, Roy, Celina, and Ricky Yanson, called the closure illegal.
“[Olivia Yanson] is not a member of the board of Vallacar Transit Inc., therefore, she has no authority whatsoever to issue such a closure order on a whim,” she affirmed.
The North Terminal location is one of several closed in recent weeks./DGB, WDJ