THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has dismissed the complaints filed by Olivia Yanson and supporters of Leo Rey Yanson and Ginnette Dumancas against Roy, Emily, Ricardo Yanson Jr., and Ma. Lourdes Celina Lopez, also known as the Yanson 4 or Y4 early this month.
The complaints against the Y4 are qualified theft, falsification and perjury, which stemmed from the family dispute over control of Vallacar Transit Incorporated (VTI).
In a statement issued by lawyer Carlo Joaquin Narvasa, one of the Y4's legal counsel, Olivia's claims that the Y4 had taken her conjugal shares in VTI and apportioned them between the siblings without her consent through two extrajudicial settlement documents cover her husband's, Ricardo Yanson Sr., estate.
Narvasa said Olivia admitted that she filed a suit to annul the Extrajudicial settlements, which is pending with the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court Branch 42.
The Y4 lawyer also said the Yanson matriarch alleged that the VTI General Information Sheet dated July 9, 2019, which was filed by then-VTI Corporate Secretary Emily Yanson, was falsified as it constitutes untruthful statements in a narration of facts.
"The supposed untruthful statement is that (1) she and her late husband no longer owned 15,000 and 346,000 shares in VTI; and (2) the VTI Special Board Meeting on July 7, 2019m resulting in the ousting of then-VTI President Leo Rey Yanson was valid," Narvasa said.
The Y4 lawyer also pointed out that Olivia claimed that the November 27, 2019 Complaint filed by the Y4 against her is perjurious and that the Y4 made deliberate assertions of falsehood.
However, in the (a) 2015 Extrajudicial Settlement, and (b) 2017 Amended Extrajudicial Settlement of the Estate of Ricardo Sr., among other documents, Narvasa said the Y4, Leo Rey, Dumancas, and Olivia unanimously agreed that the six Yanson siblings would receive equal shares in VTI and that Olivia waived her right over those shares in favor of her children in exchange for various real and personal property.
"Note that both extrajudicial agreements were signed on each and every page by Ricardo Sr.'s heirs, namely Leo Rey, Ginnette, Roy, Emily, Ricardo Jr., Ma. Lourdes Celina and Olivia," he said.
Narvasa said the DOJ, through Assistant State Prosecutor Philip Dela Cruz, found that the allegations stemmed from the extrajudicial settlement of the estate of Ricardo Sr. and its amended version but dismissed the complaint, saying the contracts "are binding unless they are annulled by a proper action in court. They are susceptible to ratification."
"The filing of the case is premature because the trial court in Bacolod City has yet to resolve whether or not the EJS is indeed void. In fine, no cause of action will lie against herein respondents at this stage of the proceedings and a cause of action depends upon the result of the civil case still pending with the RTC (Regional Trial Court) of Bacolod City," Narvasa said.
The case filed by supporters of Leo Rey, Anita Chua, Arvin Villaruel and Daniel Nicolas Golez against the Y4 for perjury was also dismissed by the DOJ.
According to Assistant State Prosecutor Bandong, the complainants "failed to establish the third element of the crime, which is that respondents Y4 made a willful and deliberate assertion of falsehood. The allegations made in the complaint are mere conclusions of law regarding the set of circumstances and/or assertions made in respondents Y4's complaint. There was no evidence submitted that the respondents Y4 deliberately and willfully asserted any falsehood."