A TEAM from the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) on Tuesday, August 6, "took over" the task of securing the Ceres bus terminal in Samboc, Lopez Jaena, Bacolod City and asked the security personnel hired by company president Roy Yanson to vacate the premises.
The move was made amid the worsening boardroom conflict among the Yanson siblings, who own and manage Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), operator of the Ceres buses.
Police Colonel Jaime Santos of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies (Sosia) said no company guard hired by any of the Yanson siblings would be allowed to enter the terminal in the meantime.
"We have installed the police to take care of the peace and order of this public terminal. There will be no company guard who will be allowed to enter in the meantime that the order from Camp Crame still stands," said Santos.
He said the order from Camp Crame directed the personnel of AY-76 Security Agency to vacate the terminal premises on Lopez Jaena Street. The same order is expected to be implemented at the main office of the VTI in Barangay Mansilingan.
AY-76 was hired by Roy, the eldest of the Yanson siblings, after he was installed by three of his siblings as the new president of the Yanson Group of Companies.
Roy and three of his siblings -- Ricardo Jr., Celina and Emily -- ousted their younger brother, Leo Rey, as company president.
Leo Rey, who is questioning his ouster, has the support of another sibling, Ginnette Yanson-Dumancas, and their mother Olivia Yanson.
On July 17, Roy ordered AY-76 to take over the duties of Armored Guards Negros Security Agency (AGNSA), which was hired by Leo Rey, citing "loss of trust and confidence."
The PNP-Sosia head office in Camp Crame, however, issued a memorandum order on August 2, "revoking" Roy's order.
Lawyer Norman Golez, counsel for Leo Rey, said Roy's July 17 order violated PNP rules and regulations.
He said the police were there to reinstate the AGNSA and ensure a peaceful turnover from AY-76 to AGNSA.
"Camp Crame realized that there was a violation of the PNP Rules and Regulations so because of that Camp Crame issued another Memo dated August 2, 2019 which essentially revokes the July 17 order. Because of that, the Sosia is here to make sure that AY-76 security peacefully turns over to AGNSA security agency which has the valid and existing service contract with Vallacar Transit President Leo Rey Yanson," Golez said Tuesday.
He justified the "takeover" by the police, saying the Sosia has the "jurisdiction to physically oust AY-76 security guards".
As of press time Tuesday, the PNP-Sosia has not installed any security agency at the Ceres terminal.
Because of the presence of the police at the terminal Tuesday, Yanson matriarch Olivia decided not to enter the terminal.
Her children Roy and Celina, who are both from the opposing camp, were inside the terminal.
Lawyer Raul Bitoon, spokesperson of Roy's camp, said in a statement that "what happened was an illegal takeover reminiscent of martial law."
Roy's camp urged the acting chief of Sosia, Police Colonel Michael John Dubria, to stand down and leave the terminal premises, or face contempt of court charges after allowing his men to be "part of an attempt to illegally take over security services of three bus terminals in Bacolod City."
In a letter, lawyer Philip Sigfrid Fortun, counsel of Roy's camp, said the PNP personnel do not have a reason to guard the terminal and lacked a search or arrest warrant or court order to take over the premises.
Fortun said commuters and employees of VTI are now in a state of fear after seeing heavily armed men at the terminal gates.
Bitoon accused Leo Rey of orchestrating Tuesday's "gimmick."
He said the police cannot just effect a takeover of a private facility without just cause, stressing this is patently illegal and sends a wrong signal to the business community.
“These PNP personnel came in here without any court order. They are heavily armed and some are members of the Special Action Force (SAF) whose mandate is counter-insurgency, not to take part in whatever problems our company now face,” Bitoon said.
“There are no rebels here, and no commotion, until these members of our local police came. Let me remind these PNP personnel that Ceres bus line is a public utility firm and the law punishes those who will cause disruption in bus operations,” he added.
Bitoon reminded Leo Rey that the court had denied his camp's appeal for a temporary restraining order to stop the board led by Roy from replacing the AGNSA with the AY-76 security agency.
He urged Leo Rey to respect the decision of the court, show sincerity and "cease from these kinds of gimmicks just to sustain media interest" on the ongoing row among his siblings.
"This act reportedly of our past president and still board director Leo Rey Yanson is a subversive act that disrespects the law, the courts and a direct contravention of the family constitution which he is a signatory of," he said.
“It seems that Leo Rey is desperate and probably is enjoying the attention being given to him by the media during these past weeks. That explains today’s gimmickry," he added.
Leo Rey was ousted as company president after the board, led by Roy and three other siblings, decided to terminate his services last July 7 following a special board meeting called to resolve reported illegal withdrawals made by him last June 24.
In spite of appeals for him to explain why he withdrew millions of pesos from company funds without board approval, Leo Rey has allegedly refused and consistently asserted that it is well within his rights to spend company funds.