Official says he deserves self-approved hefty pension

Santo Domingo.- Former Banks superintendent Haivanjoe NG Cortiñas on Wednesday justified the pension he himself approved before being removed from the post.

As to deputy Francisco Matos’s revelation that the current General Controller was issued a RD$651,000 monthly pension in the morning of August 17, just hours after the new Administration came to office, the official said he wasn’t aware that any official can pension themselves and said his pension was authorized by the Monetary Board.

Ng said he’s been a public servant for 25 years and the Monetary Board’s decision takes effect in 12 months, for which he hasn’t started to collect his pension.

Clearly annoyed, the official spoke with reporters at the Banks Association headquarters, which lauded his work as Banks Superintendent.

The lawmaker

"It’s not possible to have a superintendent, because he works one, two years as Superintendent, will retire with more than half a million pesos. Now I understand why he was such an unwavering defender of the banking sector. Like that anybody would," Matos said, adding that he’w willing to write a bill to eliminate that kind of privilege.