THE Yanson Group of Bus Companies (YGBC) has vowed to sustain the growth of the tourism and agriculture sectors in the Visayas and Mindanao.
For Cebu and other islands in the Visayas, the Bacolod-based company commits to providing “safe, dependable and affordable public transport” to support Cebu’s growing sectors in tourism, trade and education.
Its Ceres Liner not only brings Cebuanos to and from the northern and southern parts of Cebu but also foreign and local tourists to the province’s tourism hot spots like the Kawasan Falls, Oslob whale shark watching and white sand beaches in Bantayan Island, among others.
The YGBC operates and owns Ceres Liner Travel and Tours Inc., Ceres Transport Inc., Mindanao Star Bus Transport Inc., Bachelor Express Inc., Southern Star Bus Transport Inc., Gold Star Bus Transit Inc. and Rural Transit (Mindanao) Inc.
According to its website, the company, which owns at least 5,100 bus units, serves a minimum of 850,000 passengers daily. The firm employs more than 18,000 employees across the country.
For Mindanao, the company expressed its commitment to provide seamless transportation of agricultural products.
“Mindanao Star Bus is committed to spurring and sustaining social and economic activities in this region by providing safe, dependable and affordable public transport,” said Leo Rey Yanson, the newly reelected chairman and president of the company after the stockholders’ meeting held on Jan. 20, 2024 in Cagayan de Oro City.
Central Mindanao or Soccsksargen, which includes South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato and Sarangani provinces and General Santos City, is the country’s top tuna producer, accounting for 80 percent of the industry. The region is also famous for aquaculture products, livestock and high-value crops.
Mindanao Star Bus serves major transport routes in Soccsksargen.
Reelection
The reelected Mindanao Star Bus Transport Inc. board members include Yanson, Olivia V. Yanson, Ginnette Y. Dumancas, Charles Dumancas, Arvin John Villaruel and Rey Ardo.
An organizational meeting followed, where Yanson was reappointed as chairman and president, and Olivia as corporate secretary and treasurer, a company statement said.
Meanwhile, Yanson family matriarch Olivia led the annual stockholders’ meeting of Bachelor Express Inc. (BEI) on Jan. 21.
BEI stockholders reelected Olivia, Yanson, Ginnette Dumancas, Charles Dumancas, Arvin John Villaruel, Rey Ardo, Anita Chua, Daniel Nicolas Golez, Danny Lorenton, Hernan Omecillo and Alfredo Ligo Jr. as board members, the company said.
Following the election, the board reappointed Yanson as president and chief executive officer and Olivia as treasurer and corporate secretary.
Family dispute
The Yanson siblings and their mother Olivia are in a long-standing feud over the control and management of Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), one of the affiliate companies under YGBC.
In a recent development, the family matriarch filed a complaint before the Regional Trial Court in Bacolod last Jan. 5, to nullify the Deeds of Extrajudicial Settlement (EJS) of the estate of her late husband, Ricardo Yanson Sr., for the alleged use of falsified documents by four of her children.
Yanson Sr. passed away without a will on Oct. 25, 2015, resulting in a complex family dispute over the estate.
Olivia, in a news report, maintained she remains the owner of 50 percent of her husband’s estate, which includes VTI, contrary to the claims of her four children—Roy Yanson, Ma. Lourdes Celina Lopez, Emily Yanson and Ricardo Yanson Jr. known as the Yanson 4.
Olivia asked the court to order the Yanson 4 to pay her moral and exemplary damages of at least P20 million as well as attorney’s fees and expenses for litigation in the amount of at least 10 percent of all the damages awarded.
She also asked the court to permanently enjoin her four children or any person acting on their behalf from further using the EJS to falsely make it appear that she is no longer a shareholder of their family’s corporations, including VTI.
Olivia only designated her two other children, Leo Rey, the youngest, and Ginnette as universal heirs in in her court-supervised will.
The Yanson 4 are currently out of the country amid arrest warrants for perjury and falsification of public documents against Olivia’s eldest daughter, Emily.