Commonwealth Retirees Association President Juan I. Tenorio, right, and Secretary Mario Taitano conduct a press conference at the Carolinian Village pavilion in Garapan on Thursday.
THE newly reorganized Commonwealth Retirees Association will draft a letter to Federal Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood regarding the current situation of the retirees and the possibility of replacing NMI Settlement Fund Trustee Joyce C.H. Tang, who is from Guam, with a new trustee from the CNMI.
During a press conference on Thursday, CRA Secretary Mario Taitano said they will also provide Tang and the Fund administrator, Lilian Pangelinan, copies of the letter to the judge.
“We need to bring to light what has been happening, not only our overtime hours, but also we want to ask about the possibility of replacing the trustee and see if the judge can appoint someone from here,” said Taitano, who made a similar request to the federal court in 2017.
He said it costs money for Tang to travel here, stay in a hotel and rent a car. That money is derived from the CNMI retirees’ contributions, Taitano added.
“So it would be nice to have someone from here. We have qualified people and there are a lot of issues that we need to find out,” he said.
For instance, he said, the CNMI retirees need to know the current situation of the Settlement Fund’s investment portfolio.
“Are we making good progress? Are we making money?” he asked.
The NMI Settlement Fund website (https://www.nmisf.com) includes information about its investments, among other related topics.
Taitano said if the CNMI government does not have any money to pay for the retirees’ 25% benefit, “perhaps a compromise can be made where … the government pays only the 12.5% while the Settlement Fund pays the other 12.5%.”
The payment of the retirees’ 25% benefit is not required under the settlement agreement approved by the federal court.
“We just want to know the financial situation of the plan. We need to see the report on the actual standing of the program,” Taitano said.
For his part, CRA President Juan I. Tenorio said, “We, the retirees, are not trying to hurt the Settlement Fund because we are going to hurt ourselves. We are here trying to collaborate with the Fund and try to find the best solution to resolve this issue,” referring to the notices of overpayment issued to some retirees. They have been asked by the Settlement Fund to return the overpayment of their pension derived from the overtime pay they received during their active employment in the government.
“These people are not rich,” Tenorio said, referring to his fellow retirees.
“We need to talk to the governor or the Legislature to get involved, and help. But it seems nothing is happening,” he added.
CRA board member Sue Babauta is urging all retirees to “please join the meetings so we can hear their situation and the board will have names, faces and numbers, and we can all put our support together to help everybody in this situation.”
