Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, said that the Senate is confident that the new trustees, Adelina C. Roberto and Francisco P. Rosario, will carry out their responsibilities with distinction and to the best of their abilities.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations, Paterno S. Hocog, said Roberto and Rosario’s education, credentials, business experiences, community involvement have convinced them that these nominees have great interest in improving the well-being of the CNMI.
In an interview after his confirmation, Rosario said he will try to work with other members of the board to resolve whatever problems the pension agency is facing now.
He said he believes that the Fund should sit down with the governor’s office and settle their differences regarding the unpaid employer’s contributions.
Rosario said it is not necessary that two entities under the same government should see each other in court.
The economy and the government’s revenue, he said, are struggling so he still does not think the amount owed to the Retirement Fund can be paid in its entirety.
“There should be a partial payment to resolve the problem so that retirees will not be scared,” he said.
Rosario is the chief auditor of Joeten Enterprises and was then-Gov. Lorenzo I. Deleon Guerrero’s budget officer.
He retired in 1995.
Roberto, for her part, said it is her first time to be appointed as board members “so I’m just feeling my way in.”
