WITH a vote of 12 to 7, the House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted House Resolution 21-37 to strongly oppose pay raise for Settlement Fund Trustee Joyce C. Tang.
Prior to the roll call vote, Rep. Ivan Blanco offered a floor amendment to include requesting the Settlement Fund trustee to provide the Legislature actuarial report and comply with Governmental and Accounting Standards Board statements No. 68 and 71 on Accounting and Financial Reporting for pensions.
Also prior to the roll call, Minority Leader Tina Sablan reminded the other House members that the Settlement Fund trustee is answerable only to the federal court and that the NMI Legislature has no authority over the trustee.
Those who voted against the resolution were Sablan, Reps. Franklin Babauta, Sheila Babauta, Richard Lizama, Donald Manglona, Edmund Villagomez and Ralph Yumul.
Those who voted yes were Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao, Vice-speaker Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero, House Floor Leader John Paul Sablan, Reps. Ivan Blanco, Joel Camacho, Roman Benavente, Joseph Flores, Jose Itibus, Janet Maratita, Luis John Castro, Marco Peter and Antonio Borja.
The bill’s author, Rep. Joseph Leepan T. Guerrero was excused.
H.R. 21-37 states that Tang’s salary increases approved by U.S. District Court of Guam “are highly unfeasible at the present time.”
According to the resolution, Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood approved an increase to $350 from $250 an hour, the salary of Tang. Also, the specified judge ordered the Settlement Fund to pay Tang $108,890.40 which represents 90% of the trustee’s professional fees and all expenses incurred during the months of December 2019 through July 2020.
H.R. 21-37 states that Tang’s justification for her compensational increase is that “it is solely based on the positive growth of the stock market, however, the growth of the stock market is not attributed to her legal services to the Settlement Fund.”
Sablan echoed the letter of Fund Administrator Lilian Pangelinan who expressed concern about misleading and inaccurate allegations in H.R. 21-37
Most troubling, Sablan said is the resolution’s call for increasing the Settlement Fund’s obligation to 80% payment of the retirees’ pension while decreasing the CNMI Government’s obligation to 20%.
Quoting Pangelinan’s letter, Sablan said this is “reckless and dangerous suggestion and directly harmful to the retirees.”
Sablan also reminded the other House members that when Tang was appointed by the federal court in 2013, the Fund was expected to run out of money by year 2019.
The fact that Settlement Fund has not gone broke, and it is in stronger position with $135 million investment is a testament of all the hard works to save the Fund, thanks to the trustee, the court, and for the cooperation of NMI government, Sablan said.
