SEC-Bacolod clarifies role in bus firm’s stockholders’ meeting

BACOLOD CITY -- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) here has clarified its role during the stockholders’ meeting conducted by the four Yanson siblings, who are part owners of the country’s biggest bus transport company.

Lawyer Annabelle Corral-Respall, officer-in-charge of SEC-Bacolod Extension Office, said in a certification issued on Thursday that representatives of their office attended as invitees to observe the meeting held at the Seda Capitol Central on December 7.

The invitation was stated in a letter-request from Roy Yanson, Ricardo Yanson Jr., Emily Yanson, and Ma. Lourdes Celina Yanson-Lopez.

Corral-Respall explained this in the certification requested by Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), days after the ongoing intra-corporate battle between two camps at the Bacolod-based Yanson Group of Bus Companies made the headlines anew for electing separate sets of the board of directors.

The certification added that “the attendance (of the SEC) as mere observers was pursuant to the general supervisory power of the commission over registered corporations.”

It also said the SEC’s presence “as observers of a corporation with pending intra-corporate disputes was neither a confirmation of the validity of the meeting, nor of the claimed shareholdings of the above-named individuals, and nor the affirmation of a quorum during the meeting.”

“(I)t acted strictly as observers of the proceedings. The SEC-Bacolod Extension Office did not participate in any manner whatsoever during the meeting and did not give any opinion or legal advice,” the certification added.

Corral-Respall also said she declined when asked to be an administering officer for the oath-taking of the four Yanson siblings after their election that Saturday afternoon.

The office’s representatives signed only one document during the meeting, which was an attendance sheet, she added.

Vallacar Transit, operator of Ceres Liner and Tours and Sugbo Transit, is the main subsidiary of the Yanson Group.
On December 7, the camp of youngest sibling Leo Rey Yanson, who occupies the main headquarters in Barangay Mansilingan here, re-appointed him as company president.

They also elected matriarch Olivia Yanson, sister Ginnette Yanson-Dumancas, and her husband Charles Dumancas to the board of directors, along with Arvin John Villaruel, Anita Chua, and Daniel Nicolas Golez.

On the other hand, the four Yanson siblings, who claim to be the majority and biggest shareholders with 61 percent ownership, elected Celina as new president; Roy as vice president for operations; Ricardo Jr. as secretary; and Emily as treasurer and finance officer.

Meanwhile, the camp of Leo Rey asserted that under the company’s by-laws, the annual stockholders’ meeting should be held every first Saturday of December at its principal office.

“Pursuant thereto, the company’s stockholders, led by matriarch Olivia V. Yanson, held its annual stockholders meeting at the company’s principal office at Ceres Compound in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City,” they said in a press statement.

The meeting was presided by Leo Rey as chairman and president, with Olivia as a corporate secretary, who was also re-appointed as treasurer. (PNA)

News Feed:

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1088655
Latest News | Philippine News Agency