Opinion ID: 2762647
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Power to Amend

Text: Finally, Guerra maintains that there is a clear irreconcilable conflict between section 1.34 [Years of Credit] . . . and section 10.01. Section 10.01 gives BPPR the power to amend the Plan, retroactively or otherwise, at any time. Guerra insists that the power to amend is at odds with a non-fluid definition of Years of Credit for specified companies that were not affiliated with BPPR. In effect, he argues that because BPPR can change the Plan at any time, the otherwise clear provisions of the Plan are unstable or, to use a word more useful to his estoppel claim, ambiguous. But the bare power to amend a plan does not upset the clarity of its terms. Otherwise, every term in a plan subject to amendment would be ambiguous. The untenability of that argument is plain. Since Guerra has not shown any ambiguity in the Plan, his equitable estoppel claim necessarily fails.7 7 Guerra also argues that he has vested rights in the Banco de Ponce pension plan and that BPPR became liable for that pension when it acquired Banco de Ponce in 1990. The argument was not raised below until Guerra's post-judgment Rule 60(b) motion. The district court denied the motion and Guerra did not appeal that decision. Consequently, the issue was not preserved for appellate review. -16-