By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

After the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court-Branch 45 dismissed the injunction petition filed by Roy, Ricardo, Jr., and Emily Yanson, along with Celina Yanson-Lopez—often referred to as the ‘Yanson 4’—their legal counsel, Atty. Sigrfrid Fortun, said they will either file a motion for reconsideration or appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals in Cebu City.
‘Yanson 4’ spokesperson, Atty. Raul Bitoon, who called the decision a “legal setback” but said it was “only temporary,” offered a similar scenario in an earlier report.
Based on a court order signed last September 24 by Judge Phoebe Gargantiel-Balbin, the petition was deemed “dismissible on the grounds of forum shopping.” The judge pointed out there are pending cases involving the same issue and parties, which compelled the court to dismiss the petition for willfully and deliberately splitting a cause of action, or “litis pendentia.”
Last August, the ‘Yanson 4’ filed the petition in order to invalidate the special board meeting called by Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI) President Leo Rey Yanson.
Fortun questioned the validity of the meeting, noting how the ‘Yanson 4’ hold 61.16 percent shares of shares of the company.
“How then can the minority group out-vote and conduct a valid shareholders meeting as that (sic) pretended to have been done by Leo Rey and his sister (Ginnette Yanson-Dumancas) when they do not have the shares to even start a valid meeting?” the attorney asked.
He added, the dismissal “did not do away with the fact that they continue to hold majority interests in VTI.”
Meanwhile, Atty. Norman Golez, legal counsel for the company president, said, following the decision, “questions regarding the legality of Leo Rey’s authority” were “put to rest.”/DGB, WDJ

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