LAWYERS for a faction of the Yanson family claiming majority ownership of the country’s largest bus company on Tuesday (June 2, 2020) scored the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Bacolod City for unlawfully enforcing an “unissued” warrant of arrest last Sunday.
Atty. Sigfrid Fortun, counsel for Roy, Emily, Ricardo Yanson and Ma. Lourdes Celina Lopez, also known as Y4, said Municipal Trial Court Judge Abraham Bayona only authorized the issuance and release of a warrant against his clients on Monday, June 1. Hence, the CIDG operatives’ attempt to arrest his clients last Sunday was “patently illegal”, he said.
“By attempting to serve an ‘unofficial’ warrant on Sunday, CIDG operatives were working outside the law with the obvious intent of harassing and embarassing my clients and denying them the chance to seek legal redress or even post bail since courts are closed,” Fortun stressed.
He said there are serious questions as to how and from whom the CIDG obtained a copy of the warrant they served on Sunday when it was only issued the following day, June 1. “This merits a serious investigation. It’s alarming that certain parties are trying to misuse the court system through trumped-up charges and misrepresentation in the release and implementation of unofficial arrest orders,” he said.
It will be recalled that Y4, who claims ownership of majority shares in Vallacar Transit, Inc., are facing grave coercion charges for the alleged attempt last year to wrest management control of the bus company from their youngest sibling Leo Rey. The group’s claim is based on the company’s General Information Sheet filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Fortun said the arrest warrant CIDG-Bacolod tried to enforce against his clients “was put on hold last March” due to a timely motion to stop its implementation, which remains unresolved. On Friday, May 29, 2020, at the hearing of the Y4’s Motion to Suspend Proceedings and Hold In Abeyance Issuance of Warrant, he said Judge Bayona never mentioned having issued a warrant of arrest againt the Y4, he said.
Lawyers for the Y4 have been closely monitoring and were in constant communication with Judge Bayona’s office, but only obtained a copy of the Order releasing the Warrant of Arrest on Monday, June 1, 2020, when it was officially released.
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