The trial court has ruled in favor of the pension agency, which earlier sued the government, but the Fund’s board of trustees said it prefers “cooperation” to ensure a steady flow of payment in the coming months.
The Fund in its proposed 2010 budget report said it expects the government to honor the court-mandated 16 percent in employer contributions.
Monthly remittances from the government and its autonomous agencies are used to finance pension checks.
Leftovers are invested to support the goal of making the Fund self-sustaining with assets of at least $1 billion by 2045.
But since there were no payments made, the Fund had to tap its investments to cover shortfalls.
With over $5 million in pension checks released every month, the Fund anticipates to withdraw more than $43 million every year from its stock investments which were estimated at just over $300 million as of March.
The board of trustees said a “crisis plan” is in the works to ensure that even under tough economic times the agency will sustain its operations.
More than 2,000 retirees and their families are dependent on their monthly pension checks.
The crisis plan includes not allowing any public servant to retire unless the employer’s contributions are fully paid and floating a pension obligation bond.
