Moderator_03
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Panama regains control of Covid-19 pandemic
The return to school will not trigger a fifth wave
Posted 20/03/2022
In March, the country regained control of the Covid-19 pandemic, since, during the last two epidemiological weeks, the percentage of test positivity has been below 5%.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers that a 5% positivity or less, keeps the virus under control. Something that has not been observed since mid-December 2021, when the fourth wave conditioned by the s Omicron variant began.
In the epidemiological week (March 13 to 19) 1,854 cases were reported, an average of 265 new infections per day. This represents a decrease, when compared to the previous week (March 6 to 12), when the average number of cases was 282 per day.
New deaths, averaged three per day, the same as the previous week. these are positive figures for specialists like Arturo Rebollón and Eduardo Ortega, agree that there should not be a fifth wave or rebound in cases associated with the opening of schools on March 7.
For Ortega, there is a high rate of vaccination, so the start of classes should not have a negative influence on the pandemic, while Rebollón considers that attention must be paid to the communities, in which the sources of Covid-19 contagion are reported, so that they do not bring the virus to schools.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama-regains-control-of-covid-19-pandemic
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Carriers switched routes and plates to get compensation
A diablos rojos graveyard.
Posted 18/03/2022
The anti-corruption prosecutor Anilú Batista on the fourth day hearing of the “red devils” (diablos rojos) compensation scam described the modus operandi of the carriers who, irregularly and with the help of officials from the Transportation Authority (ATTT) and representatives of the concessionaires, received compensation for their buses, between 2010 and 2014.
Batista alleged that some carriers, in their eagerness to obtain compensation money, brought buses from the interior whose quota had even been withdrawn.
Batista explained that the directors of the concessionaires requested the suspension of the quota, then assigned it to one of the trunk or corridor routes in Panama City and certifying to the ATTT that the bus had several years of providing service on that route.
To allow the change of route, the concessionaire -with the help of ATTT officials- allowed the payment of expired license plates for periods of up to eight years. In a week or 15 days, the carrier received the payment of $25,000 and $75,000.
The prosecutor asked the court to call the first 25 carriers to trial, among whom are women and older adults, some of whom allege that they only lent their names to obtain the operation certificate since the true owner of the bus was a brother, husband, or partner.
The prosecution presented to the court a copy of the checks in which it is stated that the buses were compensated and the documents in which the borrowers canceled the quotas and then the bus was activated on another of the Panama City routes.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/carriers-switched-routes-and-plates-to-get-compensation-1
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8-day strike ends and Bimbo restarts
Posted 18/03/2022
Bimbo's operations restarted this Friday, after more than eight days of paralysis due to the strike initiated by the Industrial Union of Flour and Allied Workers (SITHA) that demanded salary increases.
In a statement, the Bimbo company, which has 80% of the industrial sliced bread market in Panama, reported that they reached an agreement with the Union on the points of the Collective Agreement that will govern the next three years.
“We have maintained respect for the rights of our collaborators as a priority in all these years of operation in the country, a principle that has prevailed in each collective bargaining. We are convinced that constructive and reasoned dialogue is our pillar for managing healthy labor relations with all our staff”, said the company.
With the agreement, they resumed activity throughout the country. The company serves 12,000 customers between supermarket chains, distributors, and grocery stores.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/8-day-strike-ends-and-bimbo-restarts
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A pandemic of the unvaccinated
Posted 18/03/2022
A report from the Ministry of Health (Minsa), reveals that 96.1% of the people who died from Covid-19, from February 2021 to March this year, did not have the complete vaccination schedule while 82.5% of people hospitalized in the ward do not have their three doses.
Despite the fact that scientific evidence shows that vaccines against Covid-19 are effective and safe, there is a considerable number of people who refuse to be vaccinated, which leads to the highest number of deaths as a result of the disease being recorded.
The latest Minsa report details that, of 2,249 people who died from February 21, 2021, to March 11, 2022, 2,161 did not have a vaccination scheme; while 88 were vaccinated with three doses (3.9%), but suffered from other diseases that aggravated their situation.
Among those who died without the complete vaccination schedule, it is specified that there were 1,466 without any dose; 202 with one dose, and 493 with two doses.
Regarding hospitalizations, 82.5% of those who are in the ward do not have a complete vaccination schedule, against 15.8% who do and 1.7% who do not apply because they are under 5 years of age.
While in intensive care units (ICU), 88% are not vaccinated against Covid-19 and 12% of those hospitalized do have a complete vaccination schedule.
Since vaccination began in Panama, on January 21, 2021, until March 16, 2022, a total of 7,789,018 doses of anti-covid vaccines have been applied.
Antivaxxer challenge
Paulino Vigil, a researcher of the National Research System of the National Secretariat of Science, Technology, and Innovation, stressed that health authorities have reiterated that there are no deaths from the Covid-19 vaccine and invited deniers and anti-vaccine to disclose publicly any case they know.https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/a-pandemic-of-the-unvaccinated
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Suspects in kidnapping and murder of American businessman and pilot arrested
Posted 18/03/2022
Two people allegedly linked to the kidnapping and murder of an American businessman and his pilot, in October 2021, were apprehended on Friday, March 18.
National Police Commissioner Carlos Valencia explained that the suspects were arrested on Friday morning during "Operation Valle de Luna", in the Villa Unida sector in the Chilibre district and El Nazareno in the Pedregal district.
They are aliases "Koki" and "Tavi", both Panamanian, added the commissioner.
The businessman's body was located on October 30 in the Chico River, Natá, Coclé
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Panama has removed the list of High Risk countries. Check the flowchart at https://igopanama.com/covid-entry-requirements/ for the latest information
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Passenger flow at Tocumen rebounds
Posted 17/03/2022
Passenger flow through Tocumen International Airport rebounded to 1,067,733 in February up by 691,551 reported in the same month of 2021. 74% were connecting passengers.
“2022 will be a key year for the airline industry. The easing of mobility restrictions, the global advancement of vaccination, and the recovery of confidence to travel will sustain a robust recovery pace, after two difficult years for the air transport industry”, commented Raffoul Arab, General Manager of the Airport. of Tocumen.
Tocumen SA records that in February the air terminal maintained its direct connections to 76 destinations, through 19 airlines.
The February the list of users was headed by those from South America with 45%, from North America 29%, from the Caribbean 11%, from Central America 10% and from Europe 5%.
The airport administration reported that 18,540 metric tons of merchandise were moved at the cargo terminal.
Tocumen SA announced that as of March 27, the Lufthansa Group will restart its operational activities in Tocumen through the Eurowings Discover airline. In addition, Copa Airlines will announce the start of operations to new destinations in Colombia and Venezuela in the coming weeks.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/passenger-flow-at-tocumen-rebounds
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Airline that lost door in mid-flight suspended
Posted 17/03/2022
The Civil Aeronautics Authority (AAC) temporarily suspended operations of the Bocas Air Company after the detachment of the rear door of the baggage compartment of one aircraft in mid-flight with eight passengers on board.
The suspension will be until the investigations are completed, said the AAC.
The investigators of the entity's Air Safety Directorate began investigations of a "regulatory nature as a result of the accident", which occurred on Saturday, March 12, when the aircraft HP1948BT lost the cargo door, 20 minutes after having taken off from the Marcos A. Gelabert airport in Albrook.
The incident did not cause any injuries, but the passengers experienced distressing moments during the maneuvers of the crew.
La Prensa tried to obtain the version of Marvin Matthews, who appeared as president of Bocas Air Company, but he said that two months ago he sold his shares.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/airline-that-lost-door-in-mid-flight-suspended
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Talks stalled as Bimbo strike reaches day nine
Posted 17/03/2022
Talks between striking workers and management of the Bimbo Company Panama have stalled as the work stoppage entered its ninth day on Thursday, March 17, with neither side conceding to proposals presented in the negotiation of the collective labor agreement.
After several meetings at the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development (Mitradel), "Negotiations have stalled, the company has not moved on its proposal," said Rafael Salazar, general secretary of the Industrial Union of Flour and Allied Workers (SITHA). "You see an intransigent attitude from the company, not wanting to negotiate. The truth is that you don't see a position of wanting to discuss."
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/talks-stalled-as-bimbo-strike-reaches-day-nine
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Martinelli facing girlfriend harassment investigation
11 suspects have been arrested and charged.
Posted 17/03/2022
Former Panama president Ricardo Martinelli is being investigated in Spain in a case of espionage and harassment of a woman for which eleven people were arrested, four of them policemen, on the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands), official sources informed the AFP Newsagency on Thursday.
According to Spanish media, the victim is a woman with whom Martinelli had an extra-marital relationship and whom he commissioned agents to spy on when she was on vacation on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca in July 2020.
"In total, 11 people were arrested, four of them from the Civil Guard, for being part of a criminal group and harassing a woman", whose identity was not revealed nor was her relationship with Martinelli, a spokesman for the told AFP in Palma, capital of Mallorca.
These people, arrested between Monday and Tuesday of this week, acted "at the request of a person from Panama," said the spokesman, without further details.
According to legal sources confirmed to AFP, former President Martinelli – who is already being tried in Spain for a case of alleged corruption – is being investigated for this case.
The Spanish press, citing sources from the investigation, affirms that it was Martinelli who commissioned the shadowing of the woman.
Group Cougar
The detainees, who called themselves "Group Cougar", watched and followed the woman in Palma and on the beaches she visited, and even spied on her from jet skis when she was on a boat, according to the newspaper El Mundo.The woman found out and reported the incident to the police.
Two of the detainees, one of them a civil guard, were placed in preventive detention and the others were released with precautionary measures, such as the withdrawal of their passport, reported to the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands .
Martinelli, Panamanian president between 2009 and 2014, is being tried in Spain for allegedly receiving bribes from the Spanish construction company FCC in exchange for contracts for public works during his government.
Testifying by videoconference in December before the Audiencia Nacional, a high jurisdiction in Madrid, the 70-year-old former president denied accusations of corruption and money laundering.
Martinelli, singled out in various investigations for corruption during his administration, was acquitted last November by a Panamanian court in a case in which he was accused of having illegally spied on opponents through the National Security Council (CSN) during his term. For these same acts, two former directors of the CSN were each sentenced to 60 months in prison.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/martinelli-facing-girlfriend-harassment-investigation
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Red Devil bus owners claimed pay-out multiple times
Posted 16/03/2022
“Red Devil” bus owners who did not even provide service on the streets of the capital were compensated and some who owned a single bus were compensated multiple times and owners of buses that operated on trunk routes and had already received compensation introduced the vehicles to the transport service in the corridors, for which they were compensated again said anti-corruption prosecutor Anilú Batista at the preliminary hearing of 541 people for the alleged embezzlement, in the case of irregular compensation to bus owners in 2010, when the Metrobús system was introduced.
Batista also told the court that former officials of the Land Transit and Transportation Authority (ATTT), the concessionaires and transport companies agreed to collect compensation that caused an injury to the State of $24 million.
She explained that, on occasions, the owner of a single bus was compensated several times, and added that the then officials of the General Directorate and the Subdirectorate of the Transport Authority (ATTT) were aware of the situation.
She said that those compensated on trunk routes were re-introduced in the transport service in the corridors, for which they were compensated again.
ATTT officials on that date were responsible for supervising the compensation process and setting controls to prevent the owner of a single bus from being compensated more than once.
Money was even given to bus owners who did not even provide the service in the capital. The prosecutor stressed that this situation could be corroborated through visual inspections carried out by the prosecution at the ATTT, as well as by affidavits and inquiries that were taken during the investigation.
On Wednesday, March 16, she will present the connection and direct participation of the former ATTT officials, as well as personnel from the Comptroller General's Office, who at that time failed to comply with their work of monitoring and, therefore, allowed the irregularities which caused damage to the State of $24 million.
Rolando Rodríguez, defense attorney, insisted that it is a prescribed case. He argued that the criminal action was filed more than 10 years ago, but the prosecution insisted on holding a preliminary hearing.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/red-devil-bus-owners-claimed-pay-out-multiple-times
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Seven arrested in Spain for spying on Martinelli's girlfriend
Four civil guards are being investigated by Internal Affairs.
Posted 16/03/2022
Seven people, including four agents of the Spanish Civil Guard, were arrested last Monday for allegedly spying on the "girlfriend" of former President Ricardo Martinelli) in Mallorca, various Spanish media reported.
The Civil Guard agents were from the Balearic Islands and served in the Marivent Palace, the Son Sant Joan airport and the municipality of Calviä, among other sectors. This Wednesday, they have been brought to justice.
The name of Martinelli's alleged "girlfriend" has not been revealed, although she was the one who filed the complaint, once she realized that she was being watched by the agents, in July 2020. The woman is identified as a "businesswoman" who lives between Miami and Mallorca.
"This story seems to be taken from a movie script, but it is real," wrote the ABC newspaper, adding that the purpose was to inform Martinelli if his "girlfriend" was unfaithful to him. "They even set up fake security checkpoints to stop her in the vehicle and identify the people who were with her,"
The newspaper El País indicates, that the former president appears as being investigated in the case, according to police sources.
In addition to the four civil guards, the media reports that, as part of the investigation, an alleged soldier and the owner and an employee of a security company are detained.
The case is being investigated by a team of Internal Affairs experts, who traveled to Mallorca this weekend to carry out the arrests that were carried out on Monday.
The media report many details of the follow-ups, the group's strategies, and how the former president would have participated in the acts reports La Prensa.
According to reports, the group would even have placed a geolocator in the vehicle that the woman was driving in Mallorca, in order to monitor her movements.
"The detained civil guards created a group on the WhatsApp instant messaging application called 'Operation Cockatoo' to coordinate during the surveillance," El País said, citing the documentation of this case. Martinelli would have participated in this WhatsApp group, with the pseudonym “Zeus".
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Panama-flagged ship sunk by Russian navy two more hit
Posted 16/03/2022
A ship flying the Panamanian flag has been sunk by Russian missiles and during the invasion of Ukraine and two others have been hit said the administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority, Noel Araúz, on Wednesday, March 16.
"We know that we had three vessels (with the Panamanian flag) that were attacked by Russian missiles, but the crews are all safe," Araúz told reporters during a public event.
Of these three boats, "there is one that sank (and) there are two that remain afloat with material damage" after the attacks, the official added.
Araúz also denounced that “the Russian navy” does not allow between 200 and 300 ships from different parts of the world to “leave the Black Sea”.
Among these ships, there are a dozen with a Panamanian flag, mainly for the transport of grains, and about 150 crew members of different nationalities, according to Araúz.
Panama claims that it has the world's largest registry of ships, with some 8,000 vessels, which represents 17% of the world fleet.
On February 25, and after the first attack on a Panamanian-flagged ship, the authorities “strongly” asked to avoid transit in Ukrainian and Russian waters in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
“For those Panamanian ships in Ukrainian ports or transiting through the previous zone, they must maintain maximum vigilance and increase security conditions on board to protect the ship and the crew,” the Panama Maritime Authority warned at the time.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama-flagged-ship-sunk-by-russian-navy-two-more-hit
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Former Minister gets second jail term
Guillermo Ferrufino
Posted 15/03/2022
The former Minister of Social Development, Guillermo Ferrufino was sentenced to 48 months in prison by the Third Criminal Court Liquidator on Monday, March 14.
Two individuals got 36 months for committing the crime of corruption of a public servant for the irregular acquisition of a vehicle.
It is the second sentence imposed on Ferrufino by the court, that on February 22 applied a six-year prison sentence to the former minister and his wife for the crime of unjustified enrichment.
At the same time, the court applied disqualification for the exercise of public functions for the same period of time as the main penalty as an accessory penalty.
In the trial held on January 12, the discharge anti-corruption prosecutor Olmedo Gómez requested the conviction of the three involved.
The prosecutor specified that in 2013 Ferrufino received - for his personal use - a Toyota van from two companies that transferred the sum of $110,000 through a third person as a donation, in order to benefit them with Public contracts.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/former-minister-gets-second-jail-term
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Rebuffed by US Panama looks to China
Posted 15/03/2022
After the charge d'affaires of the United States Embassy in Panama, Stewart Tuttle said "they are not" interested in renegotiating the Trade Promotion Agreement (TPC) with Panama, signed nearly 10 years ago Commerce and Industry (MIDA) Minister, Augusto Valderrama said that on Monday, March 14, that a note was sent to the United States requesting the opening of dialogue to renegotiate the agreement, but "it has not yet been answered."
“If the States does not accept, we would have to look for some alternatives” including a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the People's Republic of China He said that at this time the Asian country accepts Panama's exports to it without a treaty. But he did not rule out an FTA.
"In Panama, we have to keep looking; we have some (countries) that also want a trade agreement with us. The Chinese are behind us, and we are already exporting beef to China and there are also possibilities of exporting pork and poultry, etc.", Valderrama said. He specified that they have a product purchasing relationship with the Asian country, for which they are currently exporting beef, coffee, and fish products to that market, to name a few.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/rebuffed-by-us-panama-looks-to-china
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Government poisoned patients block highway
Posted 15/03/2022
Government poisoned patients block highway
IVISA, Herrera. - Patients from across Panama affected by the syrup poisoned with diethylene glycol distributed by the Social Security System (CSS) took over the four lanes of the Inter-American highway in Divisa at 6.30, am on Tuesday, March 15, in to demand the delivery of certifications and medicines, and an increase in pensions.
María Elena Pascual Rodríguez, chapter president of the province of Coclé, said that the protest is due to "broken promises" by the Government since there have been "15 years of pain and suffering."
Pascual Rodríguez said that although it is true there are some people who do not comply with the provisions of the law, there have also been other cases where "they have not even reviewed their medical records."
"Many of those declared negative, in their clinical history are prescriptions and tests that indicate that they are poisoned patients," he said.
For her part, the Minister of Health in charge, Ivette Berrío, affirmed that "the Government has kept the channels of attention and dialogue open with the Panamanians affected by the syrup with diethylene glycol."
“We have not stopped making the evaluations; The Evaluation Commission has specialized medical teams who collect all the information and then make the evaluations, ” she added.
Berrío said that since last week the leaders of those affected were invited to attend a meeting on Monday, at the Presidency, but they did not respond to the call.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/government-poisoned-patients-block-highway
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543 accused of Red Devils scam
Posted 14/03/2022
The preliminary hearing of 543 people for alleged embezzlement in the "red devils" (diablos rojos) bus compensation process, opened on Monday, March 14 in the Roberto Druán Arena, where the parties focused on the argument of the prescription of the case which caused a $24 million injury to the State.
The anti-corruption prosecutor Anilú Batista assured that the prescription theory lacks a legal foundation.
Batista said that there are pronouncements of the courts in which the alleged prescription of the criminal action, in this case, has already been aired and that they have been categorically rejected.
Meanwhile, several lawyers announced the presentation of incidents of prescription of the criminal activity.
Defense attorney Carlos Herrera Morán argued that the case is time-barred since more than 12 years have elapsed since the events and that the crime under investigation is punishable by 10 years in prison, so it is clearly time-barred.
it was decided to hold the hearing at the arena given the large number of defendants and lawyers participating, in addition to the secretarial staff of the First Liquidator Court of Criminal Cases of the First Judicial Circuit of Panama. The office is in charge of Judge Agueda Rentería.
Batista explained that provisional and definitive dismissals have been requested at the tax hearing, in addition to the summons to trial.
"There are enough elements collected in the investigation to support this request made by the MP to call for trial against 61 officials," the prosecutor remarked.
The hearing will last several weeks, taking into account the number of defendants. Batista said that each of the defendants was assigned a public defender.
This investigation began after an audit by the Comptroller General revealed that between 2009 and 2014 there were irregularities in the compensation process for the “red devils” buses. At that time, above all, possible anomalies in compensation to bus owners came to light, which gave way to the Metro Bus.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/543-accused-of-red-devils-scam
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Lifting the lid off cabinet meetings
Posted 12/03/2022
The Minister of the Presidency, through a resolution, prohibited public access to the minutes, files and notes of the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Council. Not that nuclear weapons, wars, or global security issues are discussed at these meetings. And if they don't talk about it, what can be secret about these records? It is understood that issues concerning national security and operations against organized crime and drug trafficking are reserved issues, but what about everything else? What is the justification to prevent society from being condemned to ignorance on issues that often have to do with the commercial operations of the Government? As the Administration Attorney says, except for security issues, everything else must be public. It is the only way that we citizens have to avoid negotiations that are conceived and put together in chambers, while the Cabinet approves them without question. Is that what they fear? To make us realize their lack of rigor, the cronyism that prevails, how little they care about conflicts of interest? They shouldn't worry about that. That is already in the public domain.- LA PRENSA, Mar.12.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/lifting-the-lid-off-cabinet-meetings
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OPINION: Justified suspicions of politicians’ honesty
Posted 11/03/2022
It seems like a thing of prehistory that, in the XXI century, citizens do not know details of who governs us. This obscurantism leads to suspicions –and very justified ones– about the honesty of politicians. For example: why can't sworn statements of assets be disclosed, if the purpose is precisely to ensure that assets have not grown disproportionately while a person holds public office? What are they hiding? If someone decides to be a public servant, they must consider that they will lose part of their privacy, so they cannot aspire to keep income or assets secret —before and after leaving the Government— nor can they be considered just any citizen, since they are part of the machinery that governs the country and, consequently, due diligence or "due diligence" on his past and his present, even on what he thinks on some issues. It is what banks practice as the “know your customer” policy. Well, citizens constantly need to "know your ruler." But we cannot do it due to a lack of transparency, which is why, in this matter, we are still in the 19th century. – LA PRENSA, Mar. 11.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-justified-suspicions-of-politicians-honesty
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In face of corruption and scandals Business Chamber demands open budget
Posted 13/03/2022
Corruption cases and scandals regularly uncovered in Panama confirm that transparency, accountability, and the rule of law are far from the ideal of a democratic system says the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (Cciap).
The organization promotes that the country, as a member of the Alliance for Open Government, complies with the commitments made, before the international community, through the IV National Action Plan for Open Government.
For the Cciap, it is relevant to move to the Open Budget model, in which the Panamanian State, through the Ministry of Economy and Finance is "committed to incorporate best practices when preparing and evaluating budget management." These practices include finding ways to allow citizen participation in budgeting, publishing a budget to citizens, and conducting a mid-year review of the running budget in 2023.
"Citizens are tired and disappointed to see how the State budgets are developed and distributed, always with political criteria, which do not respond to the needs of investment and national development," the group stressed. “It is immoral and frustrating to see how state entities inflate payrolls without any explanation, while they neglect public investment,” it said in its Sunday message.
The Chamber recalled that Panamanian citizens have the duty to pay taxes and respect the law, but also "we have the right to demand that those who govern us respect the commitments made to provide Panama with an Open Government."
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2 dead 8 injured at parking lot party shooting
Posted 13/03/2022
During the weekend, the National Police (PN) had to intervene in at least 150 clandestine parking lot parties in the district of San Miguelito said PN Director John Omar Dornheim Castillo.
At one of them, in San Miguelito in the early hours of Sunday, there was an exchange of shots in, in the El Valle de Urracá sector that left two dead (a woman and a man) and eight people injured, he added.
The Police maintain operations in this district to find those responsible for the killings
Dornheim Castillo called on the public to report these clandestine activities to line 104 to enable police to intervene immediately.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/2-dead-8-injured-at-parking-lot-party-shooting
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Bocas-bound plane loses cargo door
Posted 13/03/2022
Bocas Air Company aircraft detached mid-flight to Bocas del Toro, 20 minutes after taking off from the Marcos A. Gelabert airport in Albrook, with eight passengers on board.
The incident did not cause injuries, but the passengers suffered distressing moments reports La Prensa. The Civil Aeronautics Authority (AAC) confirmed that the aircraft returned to the airport minutes after taking off this Saturday, at 2:57 p.m.
“Once [the plane] has taken off, the rear baggage door opened and several suitcases fell into the void,” reported the AAC.
“The pilots made the incident report. Unofficially, during the rotation, the crew detected the opening of the door; the takeoff was carried out [and] the situation was reported to the [control] tower and they returned to the airport. No affected people were reported,” an AAC source told La Prensa.
Air Safety inspectors are in the hangar where the aircraft is. "We are waiting for the Accident Investigation Office to start the proceedings of an incident of this magnitude," the source explained.
The Bocas Air Company received permission to operate in a quick period of time, according to full credit sources. The sources question the whole process to receive the permits, not to mention that the planes are quite old.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/bocas-bound-plane-loses-cargo-door
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34 rescued from ‘deplorable’, rehab center
Posted 12/03/2022
Some 34 people held in a rehabilitation center located in Salamanca de Colón, were rescued, after reports of alleged irregularities being committed on the site.
According to the Public Ministry, reports TVN in the early hours of Friday, March 11, officials from the Regional Prosecutor's Office of Colón and Guna Yala, together with the National Police, the Directorate of Judicial Investigation (DIJ), and the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Imelcf) traveled to the rehab center for people with addiction to drugs and alcohol.
During the raids, it was observed that the facilities were deplorable, the attention given to the inmates was not appropriate, and some of the citizens reported being victims of physical and psychological violence.
After initiating the ex officio investigation, the Regional Prosecutor's Office determined that the 34 people in the shelter should be moved to receive medical treatment and evaluation.
The Public Ministry will continue investigations for the alleged crime of personal injury, mistreatment of the elderly, psychological violence, and all other criminal acts that are found in the evidence and testimonies of the inmates.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/34-rescued-from-deplorable-rehab-center
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Covaxin against Covid-19 gets Health Ministry approval
Posted 12/03/2022
The National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) approved the use of the Covaxin vaccine against the coronavirus.
According to Minsa, the authorization was given after the portfolio presented by the manufacturer was analyzed and reviewed, detailing that Covaxin is indicated for active immunization against SARS-CoV-2 virus infection for young people from 18 years.
The entity also clarified that this biological has a complete two-dose vaccination schedule. In Panama, the complete vaccination schedule currently includes three doses from the age of 16 of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.
Covaxin, which is manufactured in India, "should be postponed in individuals suffering from acute febrile illness/acute infection."
There is also no data on its use in people who have previously received other vaccines against the virus, which has caused 8,131 deaths in the country since March 9, 2020.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/health/covaxin-against-covid-19-gets-health-ministry-approval
[Illegal] Migration at the Panama-Colombia Border
in Miscellaneous Topics re Panama
Posted
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/violation-of-human-rights-persist-in-darien-jungle