After leading the annual stockholders meeting and board election of Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI) last month, the matriarch of the conflict-ridden, family-owned transport group, Olivia Yanson, also headed the Jan. 3, 2022 annual stockholders meeting and board election of sister firm Ceres Liner Travel and Tours Inc. (CLTTI).
She did this in her dual capacity as conjugal co-owner and court-appointed special administrator of the estate of her late husband Ricardo B. Yanson Sr.
A Bacolod court, on October 21, 2021, appointed Olivia as special administrator of the estate of Ricardo. In 1968, the couple established the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, the parent company of VTI and CLTTI.
During the meeting, held at CLTTI's principal office in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, Olivia, Leo Rey V. Yanson, Ginnette Y. Dumancas, Charles M. Dumancas, Anita G. Chua, Arvin John V. Villaruel and Daniel Nicolas Golez were re-elected as members of CLTTI’s board of directors.
The board then held an organizational meeting and re-appointed Leo Rey as chairman of the board and president of CLTTI and Olivia as corporate secretary and treasurer.
Stockholders Roy V. Yanson, Ma. Lourdes Celina Yanson-Lopez, Ricardo V. Yanson Jr. (Ricky) were absent during the meeting despite due notices given to them.
The three had been hiding abroad since March 2020, together with their sister Emily V. Yanson, according to VTI.
In 2019, the siblings deposed their brother, Leo Rey, from the helm of VTI and installed Roy Yanson in his place via a "special board meeting".
However, six weeks later, Leo Rey regained his post. Since then, the two feuding factions had been filing suits and counter-suits against each other.
Despite the challenges faced in 2021, the Yanson Group remained committed to providing the riding public with the most reliable means of public transportation, according to Leo Rey, the re-elected chairman and president of CLTTI.