Carnapping, Robbery, Possession of Explosives Charges vs. Y4 Dismissed

Criminal charges involving carnapping, robbery and possession of explosives against the Yanson 4 and others were dismissed Friday.

Atty. Carlo Joaquin Narvasa, in a press statement, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the charges against Roy, Emily, Ricardo Yanson Jr., and Ma. Lourdes Celina Lopez, also known as the Y4.

“A carnapping case for 55 buses filed against the Y4 was struck down for ‘dearth of evidence’ and the lack of unlawful taking as the buses were voluntarily parked by their drivers in the premises of Dynamic Builders, owned by one of the Y4. Further, the DOJ said the ‘drivers simply parked their bus units inside the premises of Dynamic Builders on the premise that it would be safe in the said place’ following the chaotic takeover by the faction of Leo Rey of VTI premises without any court order. This was an incident at the height of the violent siege in August 2019 by Y2 and the police in the Mansilingan head office of the bus company which was done without any court order, and despite the pendency of Leo Rey’s suit questioning his ouster as VTI’s former President,” Narvasa said.

“The dismissed charges included those filed against the spouse and children of the Y4: Margarethe Rose, Riana Micole, and Christopher Olric Yanson, who were directors of Dynamic Builders,” he added.

“The charges of grave coercion against Roy, Emily Yanson, Ma. Lourdes Celina Lopez, Rose, Riana Micole, and Christopher Yanson were also dismissed as ‘no sufficient evidence was established by complainant’ against them,” the Y4 lawyer said.

Ricardo Yanson, Jr., was however indicted for grave coercion and violation of the Public Service Act, and Emily Yanson was also indicted for Falsification and Perjury, both of which their lawyers will continue to question before the Secretary of Justice and exhaust all available legal remedies, Atty. Narvasa added in his statement.

Meanwhile, the charge of possession of explosives under Republic Act No. 9516 was also dismissed in its entirety by the DOJ as the Y4 “were neither in physical or constructive possession of the items recovered”, the statement also added.

“Further, the DOJ noted that ‘the recovery of the items creates a serious question of credibility as to their source of origin’. And that the ‘complaint is anchored generally in conjectures, suspicions, and speculations and therefore have no probative value and cannot stand in the realm of evidence.”

Narvasa also said, that concurrently, the charges against the Y4 for Robbery by the Use of Force upon Things, Possession of Picklock or Similar Tools were likewise dismissed by the DOJ.

“While, inexplicably, Jerica Leanne Ramos and Jerina Louise Ramos, daughters of Emily Yanson were included in the complaint against the Y4, all charges against them were dismissed by the investigating state prosecutor,” he said.

“Lawyers of the Y4 then asked how the Y4 were indicted for Qualified Theft of property owned by VTI when they were incumbent operating officers and comprise its Board of Directors. The validity of this finding will also be questioned before the courts and the DOJ. The dismissal of these criminal complaints against the Y4 comes at the heels of an earlier dismissal of another set of criminal cases against them for arbitrary detention, grave threats, grave coercion, among others, also by the DOJ,” Narvasa also stated.

It will be recalled that these cases were filed by the Y2 and their supporters after they wrested possession of VTI’s premises without a court order from the Y4 in August 2019 who were then sitting as its operating officers, to consolidate their claim of ascendancy over the management of VTI, reputed to be the largest bus transport conglomerate in the country. The intra-corporate actions and counter-suit filed by the siblings against each other continue to pend before the Bacolod RTC and Court of Appeals in Cebu, Atty. Narvasa said, further saying that the series of charges are “to legitimize their (Leo Rey and Ginette Yanson-Dumancas) control over Vallacar Transit, Inc. (VTI), despite the Y4s majority stockholdings of 61.16% of the corporation’s outstanding capital stock”.*