Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company vs Liberty Corrugated Boxes Manufacturing

Corporation
Facts:
Liberty has filed for a petition for rehabilitation. The rehabilitation plan
consisted of debt moratorium, renewal of marketing efforts, resumption of
operations, and entry into condominium development which is a new business. The
Metro bank argued that Liberty was not qualitfied for corporate rehabilitation and
that the rehabilitation plan by Liberty was defective and not feasible.
Issue:
Whether or not Liberty may file a petition for rehabilitation.
Held:
Yes, a corporation with debts that have already matured may still file a petition
for rehabilitation under the Interim Rules of Procedure on Corporation
Rehabilitation. According to Rule 4 Section 1 of Interim Rules, Any debtor who
foresees the impossibility of meeting its debts when they respectively fall due, or
any creditor or creditors holding at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the
debtor's total liabilities, may petition the proper Regional Trial Court to have
the debtor placed under rehabilitation.
Applying the principle of noscitur a socii, a particular word or phrase is
ambiguous in itself or is equally susceptible of various meanings, its correct
construction may be made clear and specific by considering the company of words in
which it is founded or which it is associated. In this case, the phrase "any debtor
who foresees the impossibility of meeting its debts when they respectively fall
due", need not refer to a specific period or point in time when the debts mature.