A Bacolod City court has appointed Olivia V. Yanson—known as “OVY” to her close associates—as the special administrator of the estate of her late spouse Ricardo, in the latest development of the long-running intra-family feud.
We’re talking about the ownership fight besetting Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), which was founded as the flagship firm by the spouses, along with the more famous Ceres Bus Lines.
As special administrator, Olivia is now in charge of the preservation and management of the estate of her late husband.
Olivia, in her capacity as special administrator and conjugal co-owner, then led the annual stockholders’ meeting of VTI at its principal office in Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City last Saturday.
OVY, Leo Rey Yanson, Ginnette Dumancas, Charles Dumancas, Anita Chua, Arvin John Villaruel and Daniel Nicolas Golez were re-elected as members of VTI’s board of directors during the meeting.
Biz Buzz also learned that, following the election of the directors, the board held an organizational meeting where Leo Rey—the youngest of the Yanson brood—was reappointed as board chair and president of VTI, while the matriarch and cofounder of the company was reappointed as corporate secretary and treasurer.
The company said that despite the proper and timely notice, stockholders Roy Yanson, Ma. Lourdes Celina Yanson-Lopez, Ricardo Yanson Jr., Juan Manuel Lopez and Ma. Susan Yanson—or the breakaway faction of the family fighting for control of the bus empire—did not attend the meeting.
Both camps have exchanged legal charges since 2019 and the so-called Yanson 4 composed of Roy, Celina, Ricky and Emily also regularly conducts board meetings, albeit held in absentia, due to the cases filed against them.
VTI released a statement saying that “despite all the turbulence experienced by the management in the past two years, the company remains strong and resilient as it continues to be steadfast in its goal to serve the Filipino commuters.”
VTI pursues its mission of providing safe and quality transportation to everyone, it said, adding that “the newly appointed board is excited to see how they can continue to push boundaries to provide quality transportation to every Filipino despite the challenges of the pandemic.”
Will this latest development finally end the ownership fight for the Philippines’ largest bus transport firm? Abangan!
—Daxim L. Lucas
New old boss
There won’t exactly be a changing of the guard at infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) once Jose Ma. Lim retires as president and CEO by the year’s end. No less than the big boss of the First Pacific group, Manuel V. Pangilinan, aka MVP, is taking over the position, which isn’t a surprise as this has been telegraphed previously when he said he was taking a more active role in MPIC (after fixing the succession plan at PLDT). MVP will thus be both chair and president of MPIC effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Lim, who has served the group for 26 years, including 15 in MPIC, wants to enjoy a more relaxed life as a grandfather. While he is older than Lim, MVP, on the other hand, isn’t one to slow down and would henceforth devote more of his management time to MPIC.
But following the Meralco formula, once a suitable successor is found, MVP will likely head back upstairs.
Lim, for his part, will continue to be a board member of MPIC. During his 15-year stint at MPIC, he has been instrumental in the inception of the company and has successfully grown it to its current portfolio. Its tollroad and hospital businesses are now getting ripe for an initial public offering in the not-so-distant future. All of its businesses are expected to benefit from the reopening of the economy as the country learns to live with an endemic COVID-19.
MPIC’s predecessor company, where Lim was chief financial officer, was previously overweight on property but it had to give up the Fort Bonifacio project, now Ayala Land’s Bonifacio Global City, after the Asian currency crisis. Under Lim’s leadership, the group refocused on infrastructure development.
Over the years, Lim has received various awards and recognitions, including “Best CEO” from Institutional Investor and Corporate Governance Asia.
MPIC said Lim would “continue to be a consultant of the group and help with the more aggressive business development activities of MPIC.”