While Gov. Benigno R. Fitial\u2019s administration said it \u201cunderstands\u201d and \u201csupports\u201d the NMI Retirement Fund\u2019s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, some lawmakers were not as sympathetic about it. Some lawmakers also said the Fund had no other choice because the Executive Branch and the Legislature \u201cfailed\u201d to do more.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven his experiences in the banking industry, Gov. Fitial expressed his understanding to the trustees and assured them that he will continue to work closely with the Fund to come up with the most effective re-organization plan for the Fund\u2019s liabilities,\u201d press secretary Angel Demapan said.<\/p>\n
He said Fitial and the Fund board \u201cwill hold another follow-up meeting once the district court responds to the Fund\u2019s filing of this case.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Fund officials led by board chair Bernadita Palacios and counsels Viola Alepuyo and Jeremy Coffey met with the governor yesterday, they also met with lawmakers in the House chamber and called for a news briefing about it.<\/p>\n
Fund officials first explained to lawmakers that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is meant only to restructure the pension agency\u2019s financial obligations, which Fund officials said is a lot better than receivership or liquidation of assets.<\/p>\n
The ensuing question-and-answer, however, quickly turned into a heated argument among lawmakers.<\/p>\n
Senate floor leader Pete Reyes (R-Saipan) said the Fund had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because the Legislature \u201cfailed miserably\u201d to help save the Fund for months and years. He said this is a \u201ccrisis legislature\u201d because lawmakers only act and work together only when there is already a crisis.<\/p>\n
Sen. Juan Ayuyu (Ind-Rota) told Reyes not to blame current lawmakers because the Fund\u2019s problems started many years back during previous administrations and legislatures.<\/p>\n
\u201cSenator Reyes had been a member of the Legislature for many years,\u201d said Ayuyu, a freshman senator.<\/p>\n
Sen. Jovita Taimanao (Ind-Rota), who has been heading special committees addressing Fund issues, said the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was a \u201csudden decision\u201d that caught lawmakers by surprise. She said she wished the Fund brought this plan up with lawmakers, who have formed joint Senate-House committees to try to prolong the Fund\u2019s life expectancy.<\/p>\n
Taimanao said the court gave the government to come up with a plan by June 15. \u201cI still have faith in the Legislature\u2026 But I guess it\u2019s too late now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Alepuyo reiterated Palacios\u2019 message to House Speaker Eli Cabrera (R-Saipan) that the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing does not prevent the Legislature from continuing to pursue such efforts to help the Fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we\u2019ll be out [of bankruptcy] in six months. It\u2019s like in ICU [intensive care unit]. [The Fund is] sick but we want to get out of there. I\u2019m hoping you\u2019ll be motivated to do it faster,\u201d she told lawmakers.<\/p>\n
At this point, Reyes talked about a \u201ccrisis Legislature\u201d and the heated discussion ensued.<\/p>\n
Later, Fund officials told lawmakers they had to leave because of a 3pm news briefing they had scheduled.<\/p>\n
Rep. Joseph Palacios (R-Saipan) said it\u2019s \u201cshocking for all of us\u201d to learn that the Fund filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in court, and yet Fund officials wanted to leave in hurry without fully discussing the matter with lawmakers. He said the Fund made the filing \u201cwithout consultation\u201d with the Legislature. <\/p>\n
\\Reyes again said this was because the Legislature \u201cmiserably failed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota), who was listening in to the proceedings, later said it\u2019s \u201cvery unfortunate\u201d that the Fund board had to decide to file for bankruptcy. He said he\u2019s also \u201cextremely surprised\u201d about the court filing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe board of trustees, whose members are appointed by the governor, concluded that they no longer trust Governor Fitial. Now they\u2019re turning to the third branch of government, the court, to do something. They\u2019re basically putting their hands up. The House is also sitting on Senate bills and initiatives that would have helped the Fund,\u201d Manglona said.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Eli Cabrera (R-Saipan) said the Senate bills and initiatives are being reviewed, and based on what he heard from members, many of these proposals would only create more problems for the Fund rather than help it. <\/p>\n
The Fund, through board chair Palacios, told the House speaker in a two-page letter yesterday that the Fund looks forward to continued positive dialogue regarding solutions to the pension agency\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are encouraged by the tools that Chapter 11 offers to the Fund and along with your support, believe we can create a positive result for the Fund\u2019s participants. The board is hereby respectfully requesting an opportunity to work with your office to plan and effectuate a re-organization of the Fund\u2019s liabilities to ensure its success in being fully funded,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While Gov. Benigno R. Fitial\u2019s administration said it \u201cunderstands\u201d and \u201csupports\u201d the NMI Retirement Fund\u2019s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, some lawmakers were not as sympathetic about it. Some lawmakers also said the Fund had no other choice because the Executive Branch and the Legislature \u201cfailed\u201d to do more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}