Your company is in financial difficulties, but can't they find other ways of surviving through this recession? I understand your concerns, specially about dragging other suppliers and companies to financial difficulties because you have no plans to pay obligations to them in the near future.

We have a saying in Filipino that goes like this "ang taong gipit, kahit sa patalim kumakapit". A rough literal translation is "a man in dire straits, even unto sharp blades will he cling". It may be our way of a justification for many things that happen in our society, e.g. a thief who stole because a member of a family needs food or medicine; or going to loan sharks for the same reasons. It also means that all else do not matter, from the point of view of the man-in-dire-straits.

And for many Filipinos 'victimized' by the man-in-dire-straits, a simple explanation like "pasensya na, gipit ako" (pardon me, I'm in severe difficulty) is self-explanatory and acceptable enough. This asking for pardon also connote a deep debt that one can call on when there is a need, because you have wittingly or unwittingly saved the day for the man-in-dire-straits.

It may be that your company is in this situation. For a Filipino, it is an acceptable behavior, the company's survival maybe at stake.