Representatives of Tsuneishi-Aboitiz led by lawyers Serafin Rivera and Pablo Castillo, accompanied by two sheriffs from Branch 5 of the Cebu Regional Trial Court, prevented the scheduled departure of Nenaco vessel St Peter the Apostle from Manila to Bacolod last March 20. Nearly 700 passengers were on board.
"Tsuneishi-Aboitiz transformed what had purely been a commercial disagreement, into a scenario where they deliberately tried to hold more than 700 lower income Filipinos hostage," said Conrado A. Carballo, Nenaco president and general manager.
Tsuneishi-Aboitiz claimed it was within its right to seize the ship for failing to receive repayment of nearly P36 million owed by Nenaco for past dry-docking and repair services. Nenaco’s St Peter the Apostle has a book value of P266 million, much more than the amount being claimed by Tsuneishi.
"Why try to disrupt the lives of ordinary passengers, when the courts in Cebu specifically directed Tsuneishi-Aboitiz to sit down with us, and work out an amicable payment plan?," added Carballo. "What is their real motive? It seems that they are ill-motivated, whose agenda is to harass us. Otherwise, they would not have come here, complete with a retinue of policemen and reporters and thereafter conduct a press conference."
Nenaco said they have been making regular payments to Tsuneishi, yet had withheld recent payments pending a previously scheduled renegotiation. On March 17, 2004 Judge Ireneo Lee Gako Jr. of the Cebu Trial Court directed attorneys from Tsuneishi and Nenaco to amicably reach agreement on a new repayment plan, Nenaco representatives immediately communicated its willingness to reopen talks. However, they received no response.
"Anyone who cares in the fair movement of inter-island shipping across our nation should wonder why Tsuneishi-Aboitiz would want to seize a vessel whose worth is more than the debt they claim they are owed," remarked Carballo. "Moreover, why try to prevent its sailing, when they saw it was full of passengers? Where did they think we could hide a ship anyway – in our back pockets?"