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. 

NOTICE OF CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING THE FOUR HUNDRED THIRD 

OMNIBUS OBJECTION (SUBSTANTIVE) OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO 

RICO TO EMPLOYEE CLAIMS ASSERTING LIABILITIES OWED BY ENTITIES 

THAT ARE NOT TITLE III DEBTORS 

To the Honorable United States District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain: 

1. On December 17, 2021, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (the “Commonwealth” 

or the “Debtor”) by and through the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico 

(the “Oversight Board”), as the representative of the Debtors pursuant to Section 315(b) of the 

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”) (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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Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (“PROMESA”),2 filed the Four 

Hundred Third Omnibus Objection (Substantive) of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to 

Employee Claims Asserting Liabilities Owed By Entities That Are Not Title III Debtors [ECF No. 

19552] (the “Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection”) to various proofs of claim. 

2. The Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection seeks to disallow claims associated 

with allegedly unpaid wages or other employment benefits purportedly owed by entities that are 

not Title III debtors, each as listed on Exhibit A thereto (the “Claims to Be Disallowed”). As set 

forth in the Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection and supporting exhibits thereto, each of the 

Claims to Be Disallowed fail to comply with the applicable rules, however, because they do not 

provide a basis for asserting a claim against the Commonwealth or any other Title III Debtor for 

liabilities purportedly owed by entities that are not Title III Debtors.3 

3. Any party who disputed the Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection was required 

to file a response by 4:00 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time) on January 17, 2022, in accordance with 

the Court-approved notices attached to the Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection as Exhibit C, 

which were served in English and Spanish on the individual creditors subject to the Four Hundred 

Third Omnibus Objection, the U.S. Trustee, and the Master Service List (as defined in the Fifteenth 

Amended Case Management Procedures [ECF No. 17127-1]). See Certificate of Service [ECF 

No. 19706]. 

4. The Debtors have received the following correspondence: 

 A letter response dated January 15, 2022, from Rafael A. Fontanez Vazquez 

(“Fontanez Vazquez”), a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit “A” (the 

2

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

3

 Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings given to such terms 

in the Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection. 

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“Fontanez Vazquez Response”), regarding Proof of Claim No. 174895 (the 

“Fontanez Vazquez Claim”); 

 A letter response dated January 31, 2022, from Elias Martinez De Jesus (“Martinez 

De Jesus”), a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit “B” (the “Martinez De 

Jesus Response”), regarding Proof of Claim No. 172218 (the “Martinez De Jesus 

Claim”); 

 A letter response dated March 1, 2022 from Josè Pèrez Andino (“Pèrez Andino”), 

a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit “C” (the “Pèrez Andino Response”), 

regarding Proof of Claim No. 1750484 (the “Pèrez Andino Claim”); and 

 A letter response dated December 26, 2022, from Iván Soto Jimenez (“Soto 

Jimenez,” and together with Fontanez Vazquez, Martinez De Jesus, and Pèrez 

Andino, the “Claimants”)), a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit “D” (the 

“Soto Jimenez Response,” and together with the Fontanez Vazquez Response, the 

Martinez De Jesus Response, and the Pèrez Andino Response, the “Responses”), 

regarding Proof of Claim No. 170231 (the “Soto Jimenez Claim,” and together with 

the Fontanez Vazquez Claim, Martinez De Jesus Claim, and the Pèrez Andino 

Claim, the “Claims”). 

Certified translations of the Fontanez Vazquez Response, the Martinez De Jesus Response, the 

Pèrez Andino Response, and the Soto Jimenez Response are attached hereto as Exhibit “A-1,” 

Exhibit “B-1,” Exhibit “C-1,” and Exhibit “D-1,” respectively. 

I. The Responses 

a. The Fontanez Vazquez Response 

5. Fontanez Vazquez filed a proof of claim against the Commonwealth on August 31, 

2020, and it was logged by Prime Clerk as Proof of Claim No. 174895. The Fontanez Vazquez 

Claim purports to assert liabilities associated with allegedly accrued, but unpaid, wages 

purportedly owed by the Sugar Corporation. 

6. The Fontanez Vazquez Response, a Spanish-language letter, was filed on January 

15, 2022. Therein, Fontanez Vazquez lists the various tasks he was assigned as an employee of 

4

 The Pèrez Andino Response erroneously identifies the Pèrez Andino Claim as Proof of 

Claim No. 17048. 

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the Sugar Corporation. Fontanez Vazquez Response at 1. The Fontanez Vazquez Response does 

not enclose documentation showing proof of their employment with the Sugar Corporation. 

b. The Martinez De Jesus Response 

7. Martinez De Jesus filed a proof of claim against the Commonwealth on November 

4, 2019, and it was logged by Prime Clerk as Proof of Claim No. 172218. The Martinez De Jesus 

Claim purports to assert liabilities associated with allegedly accrued, but unpaid, wages 

purportedly owed by the Sugar Corporation to Martinez De Jesus’ father. 

8. The Martinez De Jesus Response, a Spanish-language letter, was filed on January 

15, 2022. Therein, Martinez De Jesus reiterates their claim for allegedly accrued, but unpaid, 

wages purportedly owed by the Sugar Corporation to Martinez De Jesus’s father, stating that “he 

was an employee of the [Sugar Corporation] for many years.” Martinez De Jesus Response at 1. 

The Martinez De Jesus Response does not enclose documentation showing proof of Martinez De 

Jesus’ father’s employment with the Sugar Corporation. 

c. The Pèrez Andino Response 

9. On September 5, 2020, Pèrez Andino filed the Pèrez Andino Claim, which was 

logged by Prime Clerk as Proof of Claim No. 175048. The Pèrez Andino Claim purports to assert 

liabilities against the Puerto Rico Telephone Company, which is not part of the Title III 

proceedings. 

10. The Pèrez Andino Response provides a pre-populated document for the Puerto Rico 

Telephone Company; it does not provide any information that would support a basis for asserting 

a claim against Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

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d. The Soto Jimenez Response 

11. Soto Jimenez filed a proof of claim against the Commonwealth on August 14, 2019, 

and it was logged by Prime Clerk as Proof of Claim No. 170231. The Soto Jimenez Claim purports 

to assert liabilities associated with allegedly accrued, but unpaid, wages purportedly owed by the 

Sugar Corporation. 

12. The Soto Jimenez Response, a Spanish-language letter, was filed on January 5, 

2023. Therein, Soto Jimenez reiterates their claim for allegedly accrued, but unpaid, wages 

purportedly owed by the Sugar Corporation. Soto Jimenez Response at 1. The Soto Jimenez 

Response does not enclose documentation showing proof of their employment with the Sugar 

Corporation. 

II. The Commonwealth Is Not Liable for Claims against the Sugar Corporation 

13. The Sugar Corporation is a former government entity which has since been 

dissolved and is no longer in existence. During its existence, the Sugar Corporation was a 

subsidiary of the Puerto Rico Land Authority, and “ha[d] a legal personality separate and distinct 

from that of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico . . . .” Sugar Corp. of Puerto Rico v. Environeering, 

Inc., 520 F. Supp. 996, 999 (D.P.R. 1981) (citing 28 L.P.R.A. § 242(c). Upon its dissolution, the 

operations and liabilities of the Puerto Rico Sugar Corporation were transferred to the Puerto Rico 

Land Authority. 5 L.P.R.A. § 430(b), 430d (“the [Puerto Rico Land] Authority shall retain the 

liabilities . . .”). The Puerto Rico Land Authority is “a public corporation or an autonomous 

governmental instrumentality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico” created pursuant to Law No. 

26 of April 12, 1941. 28 L.P.R.A. § 242(a). The Puerto Rico Land Authority has “legal existence 

and legal personality separate and apart from those of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and, 

consequently, the debts, obligations, contracts, . . . accounts, . . . and property of the [Puerto Rico 

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Land] Authority and of its subsidiaries . . . shall be understood as being of the said corporations 

and not of either the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any of the offices, bureaus, departments, 

commissions, dependencies, municipalities, branches, agents, officers, or employees thereof.” 28 

L.P.R.A. § 242(c). Accordingly, the Puerto Rico Land Authority also has “all the rights and 

powers necessary or advisable for carrying out the aforesaid purposes, including . . . [the right] to 

sue and be sued.” 28 L.P.R.A. § 261. 

14. The Soto Jimenez Response, Fontanez Vazquez Response, and Martinez De Jesus 

Response (the “Sugar Corporation Responses”) fail to address the Debtors’ contention that the 

Sugar Corporation is not a Title III entity, but rather, a separate and independent entity which has 

since been dissolved. Additionally, none of the Sugar Corporation Responses articulate a basis to 

hold the Commonwealth liable for unpaid wages purportedly owed by either the Puerto Rico Sugar 

Corporation or the Puerto Rico Land Authority, both of which are separate, independent public 

corporations. Accordingly, each of the Soto Jimenez Claim, Fontanez Vazquez Claim, and 

Martinez De Jesus Claim should be disallowed, notwithstanding the Sugar Corporation Responses. 

III. The Commonwealth Is Not Liable for Claims against the Puerto Rico Telephone 

Company 

15. The Puerto Rico Telephone Company is an independent public entity which has 

been subsequently dissolved. Claims that are “unenforceable against the debtor and property of 

the debtor, under any agreement or applicable law” should be disallowed. 11 U.S.C. § 502(b)(1). 

As explained in the Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection, the Puerto Rico Telephone Company 

is not a Title III Debtor, but a separate and independent entity which has since been dissolved. See 

Anaya Serbia v. Lausell, 646 F. Supp. 1236, 1243 (D.P.R. 1986) (concluding, upon “[a] full 

examination of the law that deals with the [Puerto Rico Telephone] Authority and the [Puerto Rico 

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Telephone Company],” that the [Puerto Rico Telephone Company] “has been endowed with the 

power to sue or be sued and that if a judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiffs, the funds to 

pay for it do not have to come from the Commonwealth’s treasury”); see also 27 L.P.R.A. § 

407(a), (e), (g), (n) (Lexis 1998) (“The [Telephone] Authority shall enjoy . . . the power to: (a) 

Exist as a corporation . . . . (g) Have complete control and supervision of all its assets . . . or of any 

company whose total common stock issued and outstanding, except eligible paper, are owned by 

the Authority . . . including . . . the power to determine the nature and the need of all of its expenses 

and the manner they may be incurred, allowed and paid, without taking into consideration any 

provision of law that regulates the spending of public funds. . . . (n) . . . Provided, however, That 

the Authority shall not be empowered to encumber the credit of the Commonwealth of Puerto 

Rico.”). 

16. The Pèrez Andino Response fails to address the Debtors’ contention that the Puerto 

Rico Telephone Company is not a Title III entity, but rather, a separate and independent entity 

which has since been dissolved. Additionally, the Pèrez Andino Response fails to articulate a basis 

to hold the Commonwealth liable for unpaid wages purportedly owed by the Puerto Rico Rico 

Telephone Company. Accordingly, the Pèrez Andino Claim should be disallowed, 

notwithstanding the Pèrez Andino Response. 

17. For the foregoing reasons, the Debtor respectfully requests that the Court grant the 

Four Hundred Third Omnibus Objection and disallow the Claims. 

[Remainder of Page Intentionally Left Blank] 

 

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Dated: April 11, 2023 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 Debtors

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