13 Those persons who opt for the above option shall be entitled to a bonus of $3.000.000 pesos, which shall be paid on a one-time basis within the month following the date on which the option is elected. On the other hand, those who were beneficiaries of the pension to which the first paragraph of this article refers and who subsequently obtained any of the incompatible benefits mentioned herein, shall be entitled, in the form of the bonus provided for in the preceding paragraph, to the difference between the total amount received as a pension under this law, for the duration of the period prior to the time when the incompatible benefit was granted and the amount of the bonus indicated above. If the total amount received as a pension is higher than the amount of the bonus, the beneficiary shall not be required to return the excess amount. 24 48. As the following section will show, upon selecting the above option, Mr. García Lucero received the bonus of three million pesos. 2. Benefits that Mr. García Lucero receives under the Reparations System 49. At the present time, Mr. García Lucero has received or continues to receive three types of monetary compensation under different laws. The first is a monthly pension that, as of September 1998, was 79,776 Chilean pesos; by December 2008, it was 133,059 Chilean pesos. 25 Mr. García Lucero has been receiving this pension since 2000, 26 when the order was issued that he was to be paid this benefit retroactive to September 1998, 27 under the 1993 Law 19,234 “Program on Recognition of Persons Fired due to their Political Ideology” (“Programa de Reconocimiento al Exonerado Político”) 28 and to which he had applied in 1994 29 . In December and October 2000, Mr. García Lucero requested that this benefit be paid retroactively, at least as of February 1996. However, he received no answer to his request. 30 According to the petitioners’ calculations, by 2008 Mr. García Lucero had received a total of US$ 14,880 dollars under this pension; 31 but, by the State’s calculation by 2009 he had received a total of US$ 25,500. 32 Either way, the case file with the IACHR contains a certification issued by the Instituto de Normalización Previsional which shows that between 1998 and 2008, a total of 14,188,016 Chilean pesos were paid to Mr. Garcia Lucero, plus 234,626 pesos under the heading of “aguinaldo” (an additional amount). 33 24 The emphasis (bold letters) has been added. 25 Annex 9. Certification from the Instituto de Normalización Previsional, Unit in charge of Pensions Paid to Exonerated Persons, Attachment to the State’s communication received on October 5, 2009. 26 There is a discrepancy as to the month and day in 2000 when the pension was allegedly approved. The State claims that it was approved as of October 13, 2000 (see Annex 10. Communication from the State received on October 5, 2009), while the petitioners claim that it was approved effective May 22, 2000 (see Annex 11. Communication from the petitioners dated December 19, 2008 and received on December 22, para. 24). However, and more pertinent to the purposes of the present report, the two parties agree that Mr. García Lucero received the pension retroactive to September 1, 1998. 27 Annex 11. Communication from the petitioners dated December 19, 2008 and received on December 22, para. 24. Annex 10. Communication from the State received on October 5, 2009. Annex 12. Law 19,234 establishing benefits to “exonerados políticos” and authorizing the Institute de Normalización Previsional to do out-of-court settlements in situations that it indicates. Date of coming into force: August 5, 28 1993. 29 Annex 11. Communication from the petitioners dated December 19, 2008 and received on December 22, para. 30 Annex 11. Communication from the petitioners dated December 19, 2008 and received on December 22, para. 31 Annex 11. Communication from the petitioners dated December 19, 2008 and received on December 22, para. 32 Annex 11. Communication from the State received on October 5, 2009. 24. 25. 47. Annex 9. Certification from the Instituto de Normalización Previsional, Unit in charge of Pensions Paid to ”exonerados politicos”. Attachment to the State’s communication received on October 5, 2009. 33