UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

In re:

THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND 

MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO,

as representative of

THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, et 

al.,

Debtors.1

PROMESA

Title III

No. 17 BK 3283-LTS

(Jointly Administered)

This filing relates to the

Commonwealth, ERS, and HTA.

REPLY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, THE EMPLOYEES 

RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF 

PUERTO RICO, AND THE PUERTO RICO HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 

AUTHORITY TO THE RESPONSE FILED BY MARIA C. FIGUEROA TORRES [ECF 

NO. 21310] TO THE FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-THIRD OMNIBUS OBJECTION (NONSUBSTANTIVE) OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, THE 

EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 

COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, AND THE PUERTO RICO HIGHWAYS 

AND TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY TO CLAIMS ASSERTING LIABILITIES 

OWED BY ENTITIES THAT ARE NOT TITLE III DEBTORS

To the Honorable United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain:

 

1 The Debtors in these Title III Cases, along with each Debtor’s respective Title III case 

number and the last four (4) digits of each Debtor’s federal tax identification number, as applicable, 

are the (i) Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the “Commonwealth”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK3283-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 3481); (ii) Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing 

Corporation (“COFINA”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK-3284-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal 

Tax ID: 8474); (iii) Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority (“HTA”) (Bankruptcy 

Case No. 17-BK-3567-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 3808); (iv) Employees 

Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“ERS”) (Bankruptcy 

Case No. 17-BK-3566-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 9686); (v) Puerto Rico Electric 

Power Authority (“PREPA”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17-BK-4780-LTS) (Last Four Digits of 

Federal Tax ID: 3747); and (vi) Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority (“PBA”, and together with 

the Commonwealth, COFINA, HTA, ERS, and PREPA, the “Debtors”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 19-

BK-5523-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 3801) (Title III case numbers are listed as 

Bankruptcy Case numbers due to software limitations).

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The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the “Commonwealth”), the Employees Retirement 

System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (“ERS”), and the Puerto Rico 

Highways and Transportation Authority (“HTA,” and together with the Commonwealth and ERS, 

the “Objecting Debtors”), by and through the Financial Oversight and Management Board for 

Puerto Rico (the “Oversight Board”), as the sole Title III representative of the Objecting Debtors 

pursuant to Section 315(b) of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability 

Act (“PROMESA”),2file this reply (the “Reply”) to the motion to inform [Case No. 17-BK-3283-

LTS, ECF No. 21310]

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(the “Response”) filed by claimant Maria C. Figueroa Torres (“Claimant”) 

to the Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection (Non-Substantive) of the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico, the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto 

Rico, and the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority to Claims Asserting Liabilities 

Owed by Entities That Are Not Title III Debtors [ECF No. 20784] (the “Four Hundred Fifty-Third 

Omnibus Objection”). In support of this Reply, the Objecting Debtors respectfully represent as 

follows:

1. On June 2, 2021, Claimant filed a proof of claim against the Commonwealth, 

logged by Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC as Proof of Claim No. 179281 (the “Claim”),

in the amount of $63,235.80, claiming wages purportedly owed to Claimant by (i) the Department 

of Health, an agency of the Commonwealth for services performed at the Ponce District Hospital

and/or (ii) the Ponce District Hospital. 

2. On July 2, 2021, the Claim was transferred into the Debtors’ existing administrative 

reconciliation process (the “Administrative Claims Reconciliation”) to be resolved in accordance 

 

2 PROMESA is codified at 48 U.S.C. §§ 2101-2241.

3 Unless otherwise stated herein, ECF citations refer to documents filed in Bankruptcy 

Case No. 17-BK-3283-LTS.

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with the procedures contained in Exhibit A to the Order (A) Authorizing Administrative 

Reconciliation of Claims, (B) Approving Additional Form of Notice, and (C) Granting Related 

Relief [ECF No. 12274]. See Fifteenth Notice of Transfer of Claims to Administrative Claims 

Reconciliation [ECF No. 17212]. 

3. Following the transfer of the Claim into Administrative Claims Reconciliation, in 

light of the Oversight Board’s determination that the Claim asserts both wages owed by the 

Department of Health and wages owed by the Ponce District Hospital, the Oversight Board 

bifurcated the Claim into two separate portions: one portion for the purported wages allegedly 

owed by the Department of Health, which retained Proof of Claim No. 179281 (the “DOH Claim”);

and one portion for the purported wages allegedly owed by the Ponce District Hospital, which 

portion was assigned Proof of Claim No. 179281-1 (the “PDH Claim”). 

4. On May 13, 2022, (i) the Debtors removed the PDH Claim from Administrative 

Claims Reconciliation, see Notice of Removal of Certain Claims from Administrative Claims 

Reconciliation and Alternative Dispute Resolution [ECF No. 20778] and (ii) the Objecting Debtors 

filed the Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection seeking to disallow claims that seek 

recovery for asserted liabilities owed by entities that are not Title III debtors, each as set forth on 

Exhibit A thereto. In particular, the Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection sought to 

disallow, among other claims, the PDH Claim because it asserts wages owed by the Ponce District 

Hospital, not by the Commonwealth, ERS, HTA, or any of the other Debtors. See Four Hundred 

Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection, Ex. A [ECF No. 20784-1] at 8 (objecting to only the PDH Claim 

(Claim No. 179281-1)). The Fourth Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection made clear that the 

DOH Claim was “transferred into the Administrative Claims Reconciliation (ACR) process and 

will be resolved consistent with the ACR procedures”. Id.

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5. Any party who disputed the Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection was 

required to file a response by 4:00 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time) on June 29, 2022 in accordance 

with the Court-approved notice attached to the Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection as 

Exhibit C, which was served in English and Spanish on the individual creditors subject to the Four 

Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection, the U.S. Trustee, and the Master Service List (as defined 

in the Sixteenth Amended Notice, Case Management and Administrative Procedures [ECF No. 

20190-1]). See Certificate of Service [ECF No. 21011].

6. On June 22, 2022, Claimant filed the Response. Therein, Claimant notes that 

Claimant provided a copy of the Agreement on Professional and Consultant Services between the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Maria C. Figueroa Torres, for services to be provided at the 

Ponce District Hospital (the “Agreement’). The Claimant asserts that the PDH Claim is a liability 

of the Commonwealth, as the Agreement is with the Commonwealth. 

7. The Commonwealth does not dispute that a portion of the Claim is asserted against 

the Department of Health, which is a Commonwealth agency. As of the date of this Reply, the 

Commonwealth has not objected to such portion of the Claim (the DOH Claim). The DOH Claim 

remains in Administrative Claims Reconciliation. However, and unfortunately, the Claim fails to 

distinguish as to what portion of the Claim’s asserted amount of $63,235.80 is asserted against the 

Department of Health. As a consequence, the Commonwealth does object to the portion of the 

Claim to the extent that it is asserted against the Ponce District Hospital in the PDH Claim. The 

Ponce District Hospital is not a Title III debtor or an agency of the Department of Health, the 

Commonwealth or any of the other Debtors. To the extent that Ponce District Hospital was 

previously considered a part of the Department of Health, it can be addressed through the DOH 

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Claim to be resolved under the Administrative Claims Reconciliation process, without prejudice 

to the rights of the Commonwealth to object to the DOH Claim on any ground whatsoever. 

8. For the foregoing reasons, the Objecting Debtors respectfully request that the Court 

grant the Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection and disallow the PDH Claim, in the 

amount that it is determined.

Dated: October 21, 2022 Respectfully submitted,

San Juan, Puerto Rico

/s/ Hermann D. Bauer

Hermann D. Bauer

USDC No. 215205

Carla García Benítez

USDC No. 203708

Gabriel A. Miranda

USDC No. 306704

O’NEILL & BORGES LLC

250 Muñoz Rivera Ave., Suite 800

San Juan, PR 00918-1813

Tel: (787) 764-8181

Fax: (787) 753-8944

/s/ Brian S. Rosen

Martin J. Bienenstock (pro hac vice)

Brian S. Rosen (pro hac vice)

PROSKAUER ROSE LLP

Eleven Times Square

New York, NY 10036

Tel: (212) 969-3000

Fax: (212) 969-2900

Attorneys for the Financial Oversight and 

Management Board as representative for the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

Employees Retirement System of the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 

Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation 

Authority

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