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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Governor call moves of local shipping firm ‘diplomatic blackmail’
By JEANETTE P. MALINAO
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
DISGUST, indignation and resentment were Gov. Pablo Garcia’s reaction to Negros Navigation Co.’s (Nenaco) request that officials of Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Inc. be declared persona non grata and be deported.
“”They are the ones who are persona non grata,” Garcia said of Nenaco, whom he accused of “diplomatic blackmail” when it included in its letter to the foreign affairs department atrocities committed by the Japanese during World War II.
“(Nenaco’s) actions are scaring investors away,” said the governor, criticizing the company’s “reckless and unfair” move against Tsuneishi, a shipbuilding company based in Balamban, Cebu.
Calls made yesterday to Nenaco’s numbers were unanswered.
Letter of support
Garcia has sent what he said was a “strongly worded” letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) expressing support for Tsuneishi.
Earlier, the Municipal Government of Balamban also passed a resolution “strongly condemning” Nenaco for its actions against Tsuneishi.
According to Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay, the two companies’ quarrel stemmed from Nenaco’s failure to pay Tsuneishi over P100 million for ship repair services.
Tsuneishi reportedly went to court to collect and later seized one of Nenaco’s ships during the Holy Week.
Complaint
This prompted Nenaco president Conrado Carba-llo to complain to the DFA and to the Japanese Embassy about what they said was “dishonorable conduct” of three top officials of Tsuneishi. Carballo also called for their repatriation.
Garcia, in his letter to Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert, called Nenaco’s complaint “utterly groundless, malicious and irresponsible.”
The controversy between the two companies is a “legal and judicial matter,” Garcia pointed out, adding that Nenaco’s move was “disturbingly sinister and malevolent” because the DFA, much less the Japanese Embassy, has no supervision or control over the courts.
“The unkindest cut of all is that portion of the letter of Mr. Carballo to the Japanese Ambassador where the former raked in memories of Japanese atrocities committed during the last global war. To me, this is the height of irresponsibility bordering on stupidity,” read Garcia’s letter.
The governor added that the Province is “proud and grateful” to have Tsuneishi, and vouched for the character of its “friendly and law-abiding” executives.
(April 22, 2004 issue)
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