By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

YCO Corp., which manages Jollibee, is now considering filing a case against a group urging alien workers to boycott the Garapan fast food restaurant.
Ralph N. Yumul, YCO general manager, yesterday said they learned about the boycott campaign, which is being conducted through the Internet and text messaging, in December.
A memorandum also exists containing information about the boycott campaign.
Yumul declined to name the group behind the boycott campaign, but did say they know the identities of these individuals and that YCO is now consulting lawyers regarding the filing of a case.
One of the possible complaints is slander, he said.
He added that they will file the case as soon as they quantify the effect of the boycott campaign on their business.
According to Yumul, the boycott proponents are not happy about House Bill 15-167, a measure proposing a three-year limit on the stay of non-resident workers in the CNMI.
The group, he said, is accusing his brother, Rep. Ray N. Yumul, Ind.-Saipan, of introducing the bill.
Rep. Manuel A. Tenorio, R-Saipan, is the bill’s author.
YCO Corp. is a group of various companies that has been doing business on Saipan since 1975.
About 80 percent of its workforce are alien workers from the Philippines, its general manager said.
Jollibee is the Philippines’ number one fast-food chain.
Yumul said he is urging alien workers, particularly those from the Philippines, to be “very careful about what they hear because a lot of it is not true.”
“It’s hurting business and everybody concerned, and it’s misleading people,” Yumul said. “It’s sad that it has come down to this. They should have come to my brother and asked for help instead of attacking him and his family.”