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 BENIVETTE RENTAS [ECF NO. 21595] 

TO THE FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY-THIRD OMNIBUS OBJECTION (NONSUBSTANTIVE) TO CLAIMS ASSERTING LIABILITIES OWED BY ENTITIES THAT 

ARE NOT TITLE III DEBTORS 

To the Honorable United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain: 

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, 

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

file this reply (the “Reply”) to the response [Case No. 17-BK-3283-LTS, ECF No. 21595]3 (the 

“Response”) filed by claimant Benivette Rentas (“Rentas”) 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 Debtors respectfully represent as follows: 

1. On June 22, 2018, Rentas filed a proof of claim in an undetermined amount against 

the Commonwealth, and it was logged by Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC as Proof of 

Claim No. 84345 (the “Rentas Claim”). The Rentas Claim asserted wages purportedly owed to 

Claimant by (i) the Commonwealth and/or (ii) the Ponce District Hospital, which was once a part 

of the Commonwealth but which was subsequently privatized. 

2. On June 10, 2021, pursuant to the Order (A) Authorizing Administrative 

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

Relief [ECF No. 12274] (the “ACR Order”), the Rentas Claim was transferred into Administrative 

Claims Reconciliation (as defined in the ACR Order). See Thirteenth Notice of Transfer of 

Claims to Administrative Claims Reconciliation [ECF No. 16926]. 

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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3. Following the transfer of the Rentas Claim into Administrative Claims 

Reconciliation, in light of the determination that the Rentas Claim asserts both wages owed by the 

Commonwealth and wages owed by the Ponce District Hospital subsequent to its privatization, the 

Oversight Board bifurcated the Claim into two separate portions: one asserting liabilities 

purportedly owed by the Ponce District Hospital during the period when it was a part of the 

Department of Health and, accordingly, the Commonwealth, (Proof of Claim No. 84345, or the 

“CW Claim”); and one asserting liabilities purportedly owed by the Ponce District Hospital 

subsequent to its privatization (Proof of Claim No. 84345-1, or the “PDH Claim”). 

4. On May 13, 2022, the Debtors (i) 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) 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 during a time 

period after the hospital’s privatization, when it was no longer part of the Department of Health, 

and, accordingly, not a Title III debtor or an agency of any of the Debtors. See Four Hundred 

Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection, Ex. A [ECF No. 20784-1] at 19 (objecting to the PDH Claim 

(Claim No. 84345-1) and not the CW Claim). The Fourth Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus 

Objection made clear that the CW Claim was “transferred into the Administrative Claims 

Reconciliation (ACR) process and will be resolved consistent with the ACR procedures.” Id.

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 13, 2022 in accordance 

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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 July 22, 2022, Rentas filed the Response. Therein, Rentas objects “to rejection 

of evidence . . . indicating that I only worked at the District Hospital of Ponce.” Response at 1. 

Further, Rentas states that she is “sending you evidence of continuity of work [with the] 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.” Id. The Response also attaches as supporting documentation 

salary reports from 1980 to 1985. 

7. As set forth in the objection, in or around 1993, the Commonwealth began the 

privatization of Commonwealth-owned hospital facilities 4 and, in accordance with that 

privatization, enacted Act 31 of July 6, 1997, which caused the transfer of the Ponce District 

Hospital to private ownership for management and operation. See Exhibit A attached hereto 

(letter dated May 26, 2000). Such transfer became effective on July 1, 2000. Id. Accordingly, 

as the Court has previously recognized, 5 since the date the transfer became effective, Ponce 

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

the Commonwealth, or any of the other Debtors, and the PDH Claim, to the extent it asserts 

4

 See Alexis Raúl Santos-Lozada, Transformations of public healthcare services in Puerto 

Rico from 1993 until 2010 (2013) at 3, available at https://paa2013.princeton.edu/papers/132763. 

5

 See December 14, 2022 Hr’g Tr. at 63:2-18 (sustaining the Four Hundred Fifty-Third 

Omnibus Objection as to proof of claim 179281-1 on the basis that “that any services to the 

[Ponce District] hospital provided by claimant after that point [June 30, 2000] are not liabilities 

of the Commonwealth or any other Title III debtor.”). 

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liabilities arising from the period from and after the transfer of Ponce District Hospital to private 

ownership, must be disallowed. 

8. To the extent the Commonwealth is liable to the Claimant with respect to work 

performed by the Claimant for the Ponce District Hospital prior to July 1, 2000, such liability will 

be determined in accordance with the resolution of the CW Claim, currently in the Administrative 

Claims Reconciliation process, without prejudice to the rights of the Commonwealth to object to 

the CW Claim on any ground whatsoever. For the avoidance of doubt, the CW Claim is not the 

subject of the Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection. 

9. For the foregoing reasons, the Debtors respectfully request that the Court grant the 

Four Hundred Fifty-Third Omnibus Objection and disallow the PDH Claim. 

[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 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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