RETIREE Victorino Cepeda is “considering” whether to return the $2,277 that the NMI Settlement Fund claimed was overpaid to him.
Cepeda received the same letter that over 200 other government retirees received earlier this year, informing them of the adjustment of their pension “to reflect the correct amount.”
In an interview on Monday, he said he didn’t make a mistake. “It’s not my fault that they made a mistake with my pension,” he added.
In January, five retirees sought the help of Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero and Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez.
Pete Pangelinan, Eusebio Borja, Rudy Sablan, Ursula Galvan and former Rep. Mario Taitano asked the lawmakers to find a solution to their problem because the overpayment claimed by the Settlement Fund had been deducted from their pension.
The following month, the Senate president introduced Senate Bill 23-61, which proposes to prohibit the recovery of retirement benefit overpayments.
S.B. 23-61 stated that the overpayments were made by the former NMI Retirement Fund and that it was not the fault of the retirees, most of whom heavily rely on their pension for food, housing and medical expenses.
For most of these retirees, Deleon Guerrero said, any adjustment or recovery of overpayments negatively affects their standard of living. The Settlement Fund’s determination to recover the overpayments of retirement benefits “had adversely shaken the lives of retirees who are subject to the overpayments,” she said, adding that the retirees cannot afford to pay back the overpayments.
