After federal judge Laura Taylor Swain denied the government's request to continue the paralysis of all pending claims against the state, Treasury Secretary Raul Maldonado said that the bankruptcy case will not affect the tax reimbursement process.

However, in the list of the 'Creditors Matrix', a document of more than 10 thousand pages filed in federal court that breaks down the individuals and corporations with which the government maintains a debt; there are common taxpayers who are still waiting for their refunds. In fact, we have received information from people who received letters from the Federal Court identifying them as debtors under Title III despite having no claims, beyond their reimbursements.

'For the administration of Governor Ricardo Rosselló, the payment of reimbursements is a priority and this should not be affected by the Title III process. Our commitment is with the responsible taxpayers who filed their return,' said the Treasury Secretary Raul Maldonado in written statements.

At present - and according to the motions filed in the federal court - the government claims that it has over 5,200 cases of pending claims, among which are lawsuits for dismissal, vehicle confiscations, expropriation cases and those related to special education. Taylor Swain ruled that the government 'must formulate a process to deal in the context of Title III with disputes that were pending before the petition' and indicated that an extension to the stay of litigation is not necessary.

However, these claims will proceed in two ways, according to the governor's chief legal counsel, Alfonso Orona. Plaintiffs may choose to bring their claim to the federal judge to lift the stay, or they can wait for the government to take the initiative to make that request.

Early in May, Rolando Emmanuelli explained to NotiCel that within the Title III process, all disbursements that the state is supposed to make - including reimbursements - are paralyzed with the filing of that remedy, with the exception of those payments directed to essential services or Contracts that are yet to be completed.

However, Emmanuelli - who assumed the legal representation of the Association of Teachers and Professors of the University of Puerto Rico, campus of Mayagüez, and requested on their behalf to participate in the Title III process - insisted on the importance of those who could potentially be affected by the judicial process of bankruptcy join the suit as an interested party to keep Judge Taylor Swain aware of the consequences of the decisions taken in the case.

'The judge is not listening to the other side of the coin, which is the social creditors. Those who fulfill a fundamental function for the country and that the insensitivity and austerity has struck them unnecessarily. So she can balance them, she has to find out,' Emanuelli told NotiCel earlier this month.