Anguish and anger at retirees’ meeting

Over 150 disgruntled retirees and their families gathered Thursday night at the American Memorial Park’s Visitors Center to voice out their collective anguish over the current state of the pension plan after being made to believe that it would provide them a comfortable life when they retire after long years of government service.

Sixty-two-year-old Fred Prosser said he is sick and tired of the continued inaction of the government and the Legislature to address the chronic problems of the system and is particularly aggrieved that retirees are being made to worry about their health insurance.

Felipe Fejeran appealed to other retirees to continue the fight even if it involves more lawsuits. He described the government and the Legislature as “a house full of corrupt people” who do not care about retired persons. “We need to fight for this one and let’s continue to go to court. God is watching us,” he told the crowd at the jampacked visitor center.

The two blamed the mess on the government abandoning the pension plan as its main sponsor by not fulfilling its obligation for many years, resulting in the collapse of the NMI Retirement Fund’s assets. The Legislature further muddied the troubled situation, they said, because of several legislation it passed that gave members too generous benefits and unfunded privileges, among others.

A newly offered bill at the House of Representatives that would allow non-retired members to withdraw their contributions without severance of employment or penalty also got some flak, with majority of retirees wanting its proponent, House Speaker Eli Cabrera, to withdraw House Bill 17-226.

Cabrera was reportedly at the meeting but was nowhere to be found when called to speak before the retirees.

Agnes McPhetres encouraged fellow retirees to speak with one voice in convincing Cabrera to withdraw this bill to prevent more chaos in the pension system.

With an asset portfolio currently valued at less than $300 million, the NMI Retirement Fund has been projected to collapse in just three years. The Fund pays out $63 million in pension benefits to members every year.

Although some retirees are willing to support idea of cutting the amount of benefits paid to members, retiree Dave Sablan is opposed to the idea, describing this approach as “unfair to those retired people” who religiously put in their share into the program.

A group of retirees also expressed unwillingness to “sacrifice” their benefits and urged the association to force the central government to put in its share and explore the idea of acquiring its assets to fulfill its unpaid obligation to the Fund.

Based on 2009 court judgment, the government owes the Fund over $231 million in employer contributions. This figure continues to grow.

Fund board chair Sixto Igisomar and Fund administrator Richard Villagomez acknowledged the severe financial problem of the central government but said that its “assurance” that it will pay off a significant portion of the debt and continue to remit annually will help extend the life of the pension system.

“I am very happy to see that our retirees got together and voiced their opinions. I think whether there’s a concrete plan or not, what’s important was the communication because it will help them in making decisions,” Igisomar told Saipan Tribune after the meeting.

CNMI Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan, in a message to retirees, said that transferring active members to the Social Security Administration is one way to help the Fund’s situation.

He disclosed that he started communicating with SSA in May 2009 on the issue because of the anticipated Fund problem.

“SSA said they will come in to analyze and review the contributions of the government employees into the Fund and will propose a different mechanism in which SSA would take present employees of the government,” explained Sablan, adding that SSA is still willing to work with the government on this approach.

However, any decision on this has to be made locally—by the central government, the Fund, and retirees.

Igisomar disclosed that there are 2,996 active employee members of the Fund.

Sablan said if active employee members will not be taken out, their number will double in three to five years time.

“We need to reduce the defined benefit plan members and the only way to do it is get into the SSA and guaranteed, they will get something when they retire. And since we cannot find money to pump in to the Fund right now, the alternative is reduce the size to make it manageable,” added Sablan.

Igisomar said he welcomes the congressman’s proposal but the Fund’s immediate concern is “how do we take care of the retirees now.”