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)

NOTICE OF CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING THE THREE HUNDRED SEVENTYSEVENTH OMNIBUS OBJECTION (SUBSTANTIVE) OF THE COMMONWEALTH 

OF PUERTO RICO, THE PUERTO RICO HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION 

AUTHORITY, AND THE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE 

GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO

TO PROOF OF CLAIM NO. 47589

To the Honorable United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain:

1. On August 20, 2021, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the “Commonwealth”), 

the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority (“HTA”), and the Employees Retirement 

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

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

 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 BK 3283-

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” and together with the Commonwealth, COFINA, HTA, and ERS, the “Debtors”) 

(Bankruptcy Case No. 17 BK 4780-LTS) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 3747) (Title III case 

numbers are listed as Bankruptcy Case numbers due to software limitations).

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Rico (the “Oversight Board”), as the sole Title III representative of the Debtors pursuant to Section 

315(b) of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (“PROMESA”),2

filed the Three Hundred Seventy-Seventh Omnibus Objection (Substantive) of the Commonwealth 

of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, and the Employees 

Retirement System of the Government of Puerto Rico to Claims for Which the Debtors are Not 

Liable [ECF No. 17911] (the “Three Hundred Seventy-Seventh Omnibus Objection”) to various 

proofs of claim.

2. The Three Hundred Seventy-Seventh Omnibus Objection seeks to disallow claims 

that seek recovery for amounts for which the Debtors are not liable, each as set forth in Exhibit A 

thereto (collectively, the “Claims to Be Disallowed”). As set forth in the Three Hundred SeventySeventh Omnibus Objection, each of the Claims to Be Disallowed asserts the same liabilities as 

those asserted in one of the following litigations: (1) Jeannette Abrams Diaz et al. v. Department 

of Transportation & Public Works, Case No. KAC-2005-5021; (2) Francisco Beltrán Cintrón et 

al. v. Puerto Rico Department of Family Affairs, Case No. KAC-2009-0809; (3) Juan Pérez Colón 

et al. v. Puerto Rico Department of Transportation & Public Works, Case No. KAC1990-0487; 

(4) Frente Unido de Policías Organizados et al. v. Puerto Rico Police Department, Case No. KAC2007-4170; (5) Alfredo Maldonado Colón et al. v. Puerto Rico Department of Corrections & 

Rehabilitation, Case No. KAC-1996-1381 (“Maldonado Colón”); (6) Madeline Acevedo Camacho 

et al. v. Puerto Rico Department of Family Affairs, No. 2016-05-1340; (7) Prudencia Acevedo 

Arocho, et al. v. Puerto Rico Treasury Department, No. KAC-2005-5022; (8) Delfina Lopez 

Rosario et al. v. Puerto Rico Police Department, Case No. 2001-10-372; and (9) José E. García 

Morales et al. v. Puerto Rico Department of Transportation & Public Works, No. 2016-04-1117 

 

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

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(collectively, the “Litigations”). Master proofs of claim (collectively, the “Master Claims”) were 

filed on behalf of all plaintiffs in the Litigations. However, the claimants associated with the 

Claims to Be Disallowed do not appear on the master proofs of claims filed on behalf of all 

plaintiffs in such litigations. Accordingly, the claimants associated with the Claims to Be 

Disallowed are not plaintiffs in the Litigations, and the Debtors are therefore not liable to those 

claimants for the liabilities asserted by the Litigations. Further, even if the holders of the Claims 

to Be Disallowed were parties to the Litigations, the liabilities asserted would be subsumed within 

the Master Claims.

3. The Debtors received the attached correspondence from Edwin Ortiz Vazquez

(“Ortiz Vazquez”), copies of which are attached hereto as Exhibits “A” (the “First Ortiz Vazquez 

Response”) and “B” (the “Second Ortiz Vazquez Response,” and together with the First Ortiz 

Vazquez Response, the “Ortiz Vazquez Responses”), regarding Proof of Claim No. 47589 (the 

“Ortiz Vazquez Claim”). Certified translations of the First Ortiz Vazquez Response and the 

Second Ortiz Vazquez Response are attached as Exhibits “A-1” and “B-1,” respectively.

4. The Ortiz Vazquez Claim purports to assert liability in an unspecified amount 

associated with litigation filed by employees of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections & 

Rehabilitation (“DCR”) relating to allegedly accrued, but unpaid, salary increases provided for in, 

among other things, various DCR administrative orders. The Maldonado Colón Master Claim 

asserts liability for approximately $18 million and attaches a chart identifying each plaintiff in the 

litigation. Ortiz Vazquez does not appear on the plaintiff list attached to the Maldonado Colón 

Master Claim.

5. The First Ortiz Vazquez Response, a varied collection of documents and a Spanishlanguage letter, was received by Prime Clerk on October 29, 2021. Therein, Ortiz Vazquez 

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provides documents relating to his employment with the Department of Corrections, copies of a 

January 24, 1996 professional services contract and an April 18, 2015 professional services 

contract with an attorney in Puerto Rico seeking representation with respect to several wagerelated claims, correspondence between Ortiz Vazquez and his attorney, several letters addressed

to the Court, and documentation relating to claims before the State Insurance Fund. The First 

Ortiz Vazquez Response does not, however, provide any evidence that Ortiz Vazquez is a named 

plaintiff in the Maldonado Colón Litigation. While one of the professional services contracts

attached to the First Ortiz Vazquez Response states that the purpose of the contract is to “assume 

my legal representation for the collection of money under the case bearing docket number 

KAC1996-1381,” First Ortiz Vazquez Response at 3, that contract does not establish that Ortiz 

Vazquez is a named plaintiff in the Maldonado Colón Litigation or is otherwise a beneficiary of 

any judgments issued in favor of the plaintiffs in the Maldonado Colón litigation. Likewise, Ortiz 

Vazquez’s letter to the Court discusses the impact of the Title III cases on Puerto Rico and the 

alleged conduct of Commonwealth and other Puerto Rican government officials, but does not 

address whether Ortiz Vazquez is a plaintiff of the Maldonado Colón litigation. See generally 

First Ortiz Vazquez Response. Similarly, the Second Ortiz Vazquez Response, a Spanishlanguage letter received by Prime Clerk on November 26, 2021, provides Ortiz Vazquez’s opinion 

regarding the Commonwealth’s Title III case and the need to protect pensions and other benefits, 

but does not contend that Ortiz Vazquez is a party to the Maldonado Colón Litigation or address 

the Debtors’ objection. See generally Second Ortiz Vazquez Response. Further, neither the First 

Ortiz Vazquez Response nor the Second Ortiz Vazquez Response responds to the Debtors’ 

contention that even if Ortiz Vazquez were a party to the Maldonado Colón Litigation, the 

liabilities asserted would nevertheless be subsumed within the Maldonado Colón Master Claim, 

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and the Ortiz Vazquez Claim would therefore be duplicative of the Maldonado Colón Master 

Claim. 

6. Accordingly, because Ortiz Vazquez has not provided a valid basis to assert 

liabilities associated with his status as a plaintiff in the Maldonado Colón Litigation, and because 

Ortiz Vazquez does not dispute that any liabilities associated with the Maldonado Colón Litigation 

would be subsumed within the Maldonado Colón Master Claim, the Debtors respectfully request 

that the Court grant the Three Hundred Seventy-Seventh Omnibus Objection and disallow the 

Ortiz Vazquez Claim, notwithstanding the Ortiz Vazquez Responses.

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Dated: February 2, 2022 Respectfully submitted,

San Juan, Puerto Rico

/s/ Hermann D. Bauer

Hermann D. Bauer

USDC No. 215205

Carla García Benítez

USDC No. 203708

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 Puerto 

Rico Highways and Transportation 

Authority, and the Employees Retirement 

System of the Government of the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

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