Public pensioners in Puerto Rico remain united in battle to protect retirement system
The Pensions Defense Front urged the government on Thursday to stand against the federal Financial Oversight and Management Board and protect the island’s retirement system from budget cuts after Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia a day earlier signed House Bill 120, which establishes the Dignified Retirement Act.
Members of the coalition celebrated the bill’s signing at the north side of the Capitol. The Dignified Retirement Act, penned by New Progressive Party Rep. Lourdes Ramos, sets public policy for “no cuts directed at either active employees’ or retirees’ pensions from different government agencies.”
However, Pensions Defense Front spokesperson Armando Montero González said that even though retirees are grateful to supporters of the new law, “it is time to prepare to face the oversight board and other opponents who will try to reverse this visionary victory.”
“The message that this sent to the Board is that it must amend the debt adjustment plan to comply with what the Dignified Retirement Act establishes,” said the spokesperson for retired and active managers. “The Financial Oversight and Management Board should know that any move to bypass this law further unmasks them as a dictatorial instrument at the service of the bondholders, who are enemies of our people.”
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