By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Roy, Ricardo, Jr., and Emily Yanson, along with Celina Yanson-Lopez—often referred to as the ‘Yanson 4’—slammed the frustrated murder charges filed against them, calling them “baseless and totally fabricated.” However, Atty. Raul Bitoon, spokesperson for the siblings, said his clients and/or their legal counsels have not received any communication, documentation, and/or complaint in connection with the charges.
The attorney said, after a “cursory reading” of social media and a few media outfits, “It is readily apparent that the charges were based solely and exclusively on surmises and conjectures as the alleged role of the ‘Yanson 4’ were based only on presumptions and should not even be dignified with a reply.”
Bitoon went on to explained, “For serious charges, such as the ones supposedly filed against the ‘Yanson 4,’’ to hurdle the rigors of scrutiny by the Office of the City Prosecutor, they should be based on clear and credible evidence as to amount to the existence of probable cause and should not be anchored solely on presumptions, surmises, and conjectures.:
Earlier, Cirilo Alingasa, an employee of Vallacar Transit Incorporated (VTI), parent company of the Ceres bus liners, filed frustrated murder and serious physical injury charges against the ‘Yanson 4’ and claimed he was injured when the group’s supporters threw a bottle of paint thinner at him.
He claimed, as assisting police opened the steel gate to the company’s headquarters in Bacolod City’s Barangay Mansilingan, the spilled paint thinner started a fire after making contact with sparks created by the blowtorch he was operating.
Alingasa said that he incurred severe burns to his right hand and believes the incident was an “intent to kill.” He went on to claim the supporters were acting on orders from the ‘Yanson 4.’
The charges were filed last month before the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office.
Aside from the Yansons, other respondents named were Police Brigadier General Noli Romana, Police Colonel Jomil John Trio, and several “John and Jane Does.”/DGB, WDJ