Fighting Corruption, Or Not?

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Protecting the protected

Posted 05/04/2021

Once again, the Supreme Court of Justice - this time in a ruling drawn up by magistrate Hernán de León - justifies unjustifiable actions by denying the admission of a constitutional guarantee against the decision of a first instance judge that prohibited this medium from publishing photographs and investigating the case against the lawyer Janio Lescure, when in a recording in Spain he boasted of how he bought rulings and magistrates of the Supreme Court of Panama.  This is how some magistrates extend their protective mantle to the merchant, at the same time that they endorse the arbitrary prohibition of this medium from practicing journalism, thus restricting their freedom to express themselves, a fundamental and inherent part of the human being. It is surprising how, in the 21st century, when a democracy is supposed to reign in Panama there are still public servants who belong to prehistory, whose idea of justice is the same as that of a dictator. But his action goes beyond his obvious ignorance of human rights. What underlies is not as hidden as they would like, since it is obvious that, by protecting the big mouth, its protectors are also protected. LA PRENSA, Apr. 5

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/protecting-the-protected

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‘Punishment’ a disappearing word

Posted 11/04/2021

‘Punishment’  a disappearing word

How can it be justified that the judicial processes related to the embezzlement and embezzlement of the funds of the disappeared National Aid Program (PAN) during the administration of Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014) are still pending resolution? How to trust a justice that arrives so late or never arrives? So much delay is unforgivable. The judges, graciously, submit to the calendars of the defense attorneys, who undermine the processes with appeals, appeals, annulments and how many tools they have at hand to take them to the limit, and then demand their extinction. They are trials that do not reach the bottom, they are resolved by tying the judges' hands, because the system is made to promote impunity, especially in these crimes. Defense attorneys are within their rights, But the system has crossed its arms, it does not defend itself: it is not punished for delaying or for cramming the courts with irrelevant appeals. They are simply not sanctioned, and for that reason they do what they want. So, how can we believe that justice exists in Panama? Let's not complain that we never get off gray or black lists. It is that we do everything possible to stay in them. The word punishment is disappearing from the Panamanian vocabulary.- LA PRENSA, Apl. 11

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/punishment-a-disappearing-word

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OPINION: Distorting  the news

Posted 12/04/2021

The team that leads the defense of former President Ricardo Martinelli tends to distort, minimize, deny or divert the news about their client, who also practices the same strategy, for which he uses his propaganda media. What they do not consider is that on each occasion, they are the ones who are denied, so their credibility is always in question.

 It is a pity that foreign courts are the ones that take seriously the investigations of money laundering and other crimes that many judges in Panama discard as if they were garbage. There is more diligence in these processes than in Panama, and that accurately depicts the kind of justice we have in this country, hijacked by subjects who fear losing political and economic power or who see in their decisions an easy way to make money. The scandals in which the former president and his family are mentioned include Brazil, Italy, Andorra, Switzerland, Spain, the United States. So much mention cannot be a coincidence or the work of the supposed “political persecution” that they cackle so much about. The facts speak for themselves: money a lot, confessions of repentants and whistleblowers, documentation. But they only know how to repeat trite complaints that some buy knowing what is behind them. LA PRENSA, Apr. 12

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-distorting-the-news

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Business Chamber cites aberrant justice system

Posted 18/04/2021

The conditions leading to a reform of the constitution "have deepened", exposing an administration of justice complicit in impunity with aberrant and untimely rulings and a cracked institutionality and "State organs mired in patronage that feeds discretion, insecurity, lack of transparency and corruption” says  Panama’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture in its weekly report.

In the midst of this “not very hopeful” context and in a worrying and uncertain political panorama, the Chamber stressed that it insists on the need to reform the country's Constitution.

It added that, regardless of the method by which these reforms are carried out, the group will actively participate in the substantive discussion, reiterating reforms that strengthen the weak institutional framework of the country.

This, through changes that imply, for example, the requirements to be magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, their appointment and ratification, as well as those of the Attorney General and the Attorney General of the Administration, the times to appoint to these officials, the constitutional and legal powers of the Supreme Court, the budget of the Judicial Branch and the Public Ministry; the judicial function of the Legislative Organ, the method of selection and composition of the National Assembly, as well as limits to the reelection of deputies, and the limitations on the powers of the Executive.

"Panama must modernize for its integral development, considering the functional aspects that have led the country to occupy a differentiating position within the group of nations," said the organization.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/business-chamber-cites-aberrant-justice-system-1

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Lawyers playing for time

Posted 20/04/2021

The hearing of one of the high profile cases, and definitely emblematic in terms of the payment of multiple and millionaire bribes - confessed by the very companies that paid them - was postponed yesterday to August. There is nothing new in it. It has become customary for lawyers or defendants not to appear at the hearings. And so the little game will continue until the defense teams demand the prescription of the cases. These behaviors should be inadmissible and severely punished, as they constitute an abuse of the system and a mockery of authority and citizens. Judges are excessively tolerant of this lively game of lawyers, despite the fact that they are, in fact, auxiliaries of justice. The regrettable thing is that we are in the presence of the prelude to the Odebrecht case. It is the law at the service of organized political crime, which takes advantage of every legal loophole to sneak excuses, subterfuges and irrelevant and irrelevant legal resources, but with the crucial objective of lengthening the processes until the statute of limitations. The defendants have no interest in clearing their name, they seek to avoid jail by delaying their cases. And in many occasions, the mockery is consented by judges and magistrates, when the sensible thing is to punish it. – LA PRENSA, Apl. 20

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/lawyers-playing-for-time

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OPINION: Impunity vs Justice

Posted 21/04/2021

A legislative initiative of independent and opposition deputies seeks to end a blatant privilege: that the sentences in cases in which the Supreme Court of Justice processes a deputy be approved by a simple majority and not by a qualified majority, as was the recent case of the Deputy Arquesio Arias (PRD). These are clearly perks that seek that justice does not reach them. Regardless of the crime with which they are accused or the damage attributed, these people have allies in the Supreme Court of Justice who, without hesitation, consider impunity more important than justice. And although the legislative claim seeks to reverse an unacceptable privilege - which is coupled with the fact that the deputies are not subject to ordinary justice - it is unlikely that it will have the necessary support to be approved. We just have to remember that the first priority of the deputies is themselves, and reforming the law in that sense means giving up a jurisdiction. But therein lies the challenge: they have the opportunity to show that they are not interested in privilege; that we are wrong about their priorities; that they are really willing to be equal to the ordinary citizen in criminal matters. Give it a try! LA PRENSA, Apr. 21

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-impunity-vs-justice

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OPINION: Justice delayed

Posted 26/04/2021

Our judicial system is plagued with formalities that prevent - with great success, moreover - that there is real justice in Panama. The lawyers in Panama, far from litigating in substance, concentrate all their efforts on stopping the cases; present dilatory and ineffective appeals. That is, they sue the form, almost never the substance, with which, the only thing they achieve is that doubts and suspicions deepen not only in the judicial system but also in the innocence of their clients. Winning a case by delay or by prescription does not clarify whether the defendant is innocent; on the contrary, it generates a contrary perception. The Second Superior Court is sitting on a high-profile file: the case for alleged embezzlement and money laundering in the construction of phase II of the Via Brasil Corridor, the Via Domingo Díaz, and the Old Town of Panama City, in this case in which those who paid bribes confessed all the details: characters, circumstances, bribery, etc. But it has been stuck since last November in the offices of the honorable magistrates of this court, waiting for what? The prescription? What will resolve itself? Please, justices, start respecting yourself so the rest of us can do it. LA PRENSA, Apr. 26

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-justice-delayed

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OPINION: Panama Heading into Corruption Abyss

Posted 04/06/2021

Panama has awarded contracts to Odebrecht for years, valued at billions of dollars. And during that time, all controls either failed or officials deliberately caused them to fail. This is how this company - and surely many more, local and international - extract billions more to pay bribes or increase their profits, a custom of our politicians and businessmen who, contrary to what one would think, do not lecture because our justice is null and, therefore, corruption is as rampant as ever. Panama is a rich country, but the voracity of these people is unlimited, it is infinite, and sooner or later we will see the consequences of our indifference to so much theft and impunity. What will be the biggest corruption scandal in our history? Who will pay for the damage dirty money does to our justice system? Where will the country end up once its wealth has been eaten up by every political party that rises to power? Odebrecht only shows us a fraction of that great corruption that flourishes and spreads within Panamanian society, but it is enough to make us realize that, with firm and determined steps, we are heading into an abyss – LA PRENSA, Jun. 4

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/opinion-panama-heading-into-corruption-abyss

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Sardines caught sharks swim free

Posted 05/06/2021

In the Odebrecht case, those who pay or have paid for their criminal behavior are the sardines and the odd fish. But the white sharks continue to frolic, happy as if they know something that we do not know ... but that we suspect. At some silly moment in my life, I had the hope that Odebrecht could be the lesson of our political class. The facts prove the opposite. They are more concerned about getting a ballot for being badly parked than about receiving a conviction for stealing millions.

Going into that case, one can see with absolute clarity and certainty that there is enough evidence for a good number of people to be convicted. And some more than others, because they did not know how to cover themselves well. But there are those who acted as if Panama were the garden of their crops. And still, this week I could see how, despite this, there are people asking that some of them return to the country. I am sure that everything, absolutely everything that is against him, is useless against the power of a few thousand dollars in the market of consciences.

And this government. There is no doubt that he has learned from the teacher he taught over there in the 1990s. Before, his politicians worked two to three years, and the last two years of the presidential term were spent raising the money they would need for when they lost the elections. That is history. Now they steal from before coming to power. From a neighborhood house to an apartment of millions; from being a middle-class professional to an affluent politician.

I once read of a businessman who paid bribes for works that the government gave him that he was not going to reach out, that he had never had a need to offer anything before. Until one time he won a fair bid, and the politicians asked him for money.

 So one wonders, why does a company that genuinely won a public act have to pay bribes? The answer lies in the bureaucracy. There are fees for the order to proceed; addenda; meetings with the person in charge of the work; for shortening control procedures; for the release of payments; for lobbyists, intermediaries, inspectors, and even the well-groomed.

For this reason, to a work that in the public sector costs $4 million net, surely we must add the cost of satisfying the voracity of officials who are in line waiting to receive their share of the pie. Then, that work is costing $6 million, which is also enough to subcontract to a third party that is in charge of dealing with the happy project.

And that's what Odebrecht did. He just waited - and not long - until there was a knock on his door. It is the ancestral Panamanian way of doing business in the State. And that hasn't changed one iota. That is the truth, pure and painful. I swear by the Gordito del Zodiaco award, by the PPC concession, by the Molejón gold, by the NG Power plant and by the two Covid hospitals  - Rolando Rodriguez, LA PRENSA, Jun. 5.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/sardines-caught-sharks-swim-free-1

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Ministry Counselors linked to scandals

Eyra Ruiz and José Alejandro Rojas

Posted 12/06/2021

Although in  2014  the Supreme Court ruled that   Counseling ministers have no constitutional basis they continue to exist without portfolio and with all the perks attached to a Ministerial post and two of them  Eyra Ruiz and José Alejandro Rojas linked to scandals.

Ruiz, in the Ministry of  Health, has been the target of criticism for several of her actions, such as the authorization for a vaccination day in the National Assembly, as the executive secretary of Panavac-19. She also acknowledged knowing Denisse Vega, owner of the Coco del Mar Suites building, where 17 people paid $200 each to receive the Pfizer vaccine, reports La Prensa.

While Rojas Pardini, Minister Counselor for Facilitation of Private Investment, is linked to the board of directors of the restaurant Salvaje, where last month a young man died when a railing came off. Rojas Pardini appears in millionaire loan documents with Jaime Ventura Álvarez, who held the position of secretary of the company that owns Salvaje, until February 2020.

Although both were appointed as advisory ministers, they appear on the state payroll with other positions. Ruiz remains a doctor in the Ministry of Health (Minsa) and earns $7,562 a month. Rojas appears as executive secretary of the Secretariat of the Economy of the Presidency and earns $6,000 (salary and representation expenses).

Like the ministers, they have an official car and administrative staff. In addition, they use a diplomatic passport and can accompany the president on international trips and activities as ministers. Their function, which is not established in the Constitution or in the decrees that designate them, would be to advise the president on complex issues.

The Supreme Court, in a ruling of July 3, 2014, ruled on the figure of the Minister Counselor and said that it has no constitutional basis.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/ministry-counselors-linked-to-scandals

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OPINION: The malice of corruption

Posted 17/06/2021

When we face a cover like this one, it is clear that there the perception that the country is sunk in the mud of corruption  is not wrong: Odebrecht, Lottery, even the case in Costa Rica of a company with works in Panama - he confesses of having paid millions in bribes to local officials - and whose investigation will have rebounds in Panama. This week, a study containing an index on the ability to fight corruption was released. Obviously, there were no surprises: as always, our evaluation is bad. And the reason for that is because our officials are in denial. They do not hear or see or smell or feel; nor intuition they have. You just have to see what happened this week with the bags of food. Hundreds in a private house, without a good reason, and the only thing that seven ministers or their representatives can say is that they have given instructions to cooperate in the investigation. If that were true, the investigation would be completed in less than a week. Half a Cabinet and can't keep track of a few bags of food. For this reason, the country reeks of scam, robbery and bargains. And these are the covers that result from the impudence and the eternal malice – LA PRENSA, Jun. 17.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-the-malice-of-corruption

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Questions when judges seek re-election

Posted 19/06/2021

Anyone who meets the requirements of the Constitution to be a deputy or magistrate has the right to stand for election or selection. But that does not mean that that must be all that is necessary to receive such a privilege. In the case of the deputies, it has been proven that it is a position that should not be reelected, because, in their efforts to remain in office, they change the electoral division of the country, seek to do works to gain sympathy, manipulate the budget of the State, etc., while their duties are relegated to the background. In the case of the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, their selection should be meticulous, strictly attached to merit, ethics and an impeccable track record. But there have been many times that these appointments respond to the payment of favors or vice versa, to benefit a partner or simply, the position is reserved for lawyers without reputation, experience or scruples for the sale of their judgments. The Executive is preparing to appoint - along with the National Assembly, where ethics and morals went for an eternal walk - the next magistrates. We hope that impeccable legal professionals will be chosen and not those who meet only the minimum requirements of being Panamanian, a lawyer and over 35 years of age. LA PRENSA, Jun. 17.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/questions-when-judges-seek-re-election

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Government corruption worse than virus

President Cortizo addresses the National Assembly

Posted 05/07/2021

The “Government” intends to lull the population with more of its official propaganda, but it does not realize that in these two years it cannot hide that the health system (CSS and Minsa) with which it faces the pandemic is two-headed and inefficient.

They invented the modular hospital to do business and about this nothing is clear.

Unemployment is around 20% and young people and women are the most affected, but the Government does not even have a medium-term plan.

Justice continues to be selective, and for that it has an interim Prosecutor's Office and so far nothing has happened with the scandals of the shelters, food bags, and clandestine vaccination.

They do not say that they have indebted the country as never before in the midst of a pandemic but they see it as economic achievement.

The solidarity bonus of 120 dollars continues to be the beggar’s mite but the members of the PRD and Molirena in the Government receive 100% of their salary. Why don't they show it off as an achievement?

The two years are to mourn and the protesters on May 5 already said it on July 1: "The Little Government and corruption is worse than the virus."  - MI DIARIO, Jul. 5

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/government-corruption-worse-than-virus

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OPINION: Dirty money in judiciary, politics

Posted 06/07/2021

It is no secret to anyone that drug trafficking has an important presence in Panama, as a result of the trafficking itself and the related activities involved, such as the participation of locally organized groups that are dedicated to selling, transporting, and guarding drugs. In recent months, the security forces of Panama - with the intercession of international intelligence agencies - have dealt certain blows to these organizations, their operations, and their members. These actions go to the throat of the businesses of common criminals, but it is not a secret either that these groups have infiltrated the Judicial Branch, including the Legislative, according to a multiplicity of intelligence sources, local and foreign, who have intimately expressed their concern about the growing penetration of dirty money in local politics and banking. The worrying thing is that they have gone very far, acceding to a State body that makes - or does not make - laws, which facilitates and even promotes these activities that leave millions, used, among other things, to weaken our institutions. It is necessary to reach higher to end a scourge that already affects, even, national security. LA PRENSA, Jul. 6.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-dirty-money-in-judiciary-politics

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Consciences for Sale

Posted 07/07/2021

The new president of the National Assembly, the day he was sworn in, gave a speech that, on paper, was eloquent, promising, and even hopeful. And, as he said, he wrote it himself. But his speech is just the surface of management that, in practice, is more of the same. The usual faces in the work committees say more about what will remain the same than about the promised changes, thanks to bedroom pacts to win the presidency in exchange for the committees. Everything arranged with the exchange, with the "what's up for me." It is not an Assembly that works for its constituents. It is about an Assembly of Phoenicians in which consciences and votes are for sale, and they dance to the sound that they make the coins that fill their pockets. Unfortunately, we will not see changes, rather, we are in the presence of another five-year period lost between greed and corruption. The Legislative Organ has found a new north: Its work committees, especially the Budget one, are bastions of blackmail, where its members, with few exceptions, do not stitch without a thread. That is the sad picture of the promised "change". - LA PRENSA  Jul. 7

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/consciences-for-sale-1

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OPINION: Perverse impressions

Posted 09/07/2021

The superior anti-corruption prosecutor Anilú Batista - an inheritance left by former attorney Eduardo Ulloa - completed her "exhaustive, complex and objective" investigation into the case of the Albrook modular hospital. It concluded, "that the facts of knowledge by the Public Ministry do not constitute a crime" and, therefore, decided to provisionally archive the case. In the second act of this work, the Comptroller, hours after having circulated the document, and at dawn, announced the payment of the hospital after the conclusions of the prosecutor. The case ended up archived, because, according to the prosecutor, everything is in complete order. Is there something new in the prosecutor's decision? Nothing. Let us remember that in Panama the most honest politicians in the world exercise, and that the perception of corruption in the government and its officials are unjustified conjectures, the product of a chronic collective madness of society or of the imagination of all of us. Perhaps we should applaud that we have working for the good of the country a prosecutor who no one deceives her and officials of unquestionable honesty, who left their native Macondo to come to erase those perverse impressions that we have of our leaders. - LA PRENSA, Jul. 9

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-perverse-impressions

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Rot in the National Assembly

Raúl Pineda

Posted 21/07/2021

It takes a perfect nerve to present a legislative initiative that seeks to eliminate the accessory penalties that can accompany convictions for common crimes, including, for example, being disqualified from holding public office for a time. Instead of toughening the accessory penalties - which seek to protect the State from the presence of convicted crooks - what deputy Raúl Pineda (PRD) has presented seeks precisely the opposite. This perhaps marks the new bottom of the rot in which the National Assembly is sunk. The only thing missing is that his next slop allows people convicted of robbery or homicide to run - from prison - to be president of the Republic, deputy or mayor, in which case, his resume will be adorned with the mention of his sentence. Every day that passes it is shown that our politicians are gang members who, drunk with power, no longer care that it is known. Undoubtedly, this bill has the name and surname, the measurements, and the preferred color of the person who would be the largest beneficiary. And this being the case, why don't you quit your party and go for the one you really work for. There are 99 reasons - in addition to this caricature of the law - that reveal where the loyalties of this subject are located. – LA PRENSA, Jul. 21

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/rot-in-the-national-assembly

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Suppressing  police records is a no no

Posted 23/07/2021

The same PRD deputy who seeks to eliminate the accessory penalties of sentences for common crimes has come up with another draft bill that seeks to suppress the police record as a requirement to apply for certain jobs. This deputy says that his draft is noble and seeks to offer second chances to convicts. An employer deserves to know the background of his staff, which includes their knowledge, skills and experience, but also their behavior, ethics, and relationship with the law. Good decisions are made based on knowledge and information. Omitting data as important as a police record is not an act of honesty on the part of someone who seeks, precisely, to rebuild his life. The initiative, coming from this deputy, only arouses suspicions. His background speaks of him (and not precisely for the better) and, just as an employer deserves to know who he hires, a voter must know who to choose for public office. And for that, in both cases, all the information is needed, not just part of it, as the deputy wants.- LA PRENSA, Jul. 23.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/suppressing-police-records-is-a-no-no

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Transparency International condemns  moves to ease penal code

Posted 26/07/2021

Elimination of the police record and making accessory penalties more flexible within the Penal Code are part of the initiatives that the National Assembly has launched in the first weeks of Crispiano Adames as president.

 Raúl Pineda deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), proposed eliminating accessory penalties [forbidden to seek public office] for all crimes, except those against the public administration. An initiative that has aroused the rejection of various sectors of civil society, among which is the Panamanian Chapter of Transparency International, represented by the lawyer Carlos Barsallo.

“It is not a priority issue, since it is something that is very well established within the Penal Code. It would be necessary to understand the logic of modifying something that has been proven to work (...) Accessory penalties have logic and it is the judge's obligation to impose them, it is not optional, ”said Barsallo in Noticias AM .

He asserted that in the end this bill and the other of the elimination of the police record with the aim of reintegration into society must be analyzed by the Executive Body chaired by Laurentino Cortizo who has the last word.

However, it could be the case that the Assembly approves the laws by insistence and for that, it needs the support of two-thirds of the Executive. " It may also happen that the Executive declares it unenforceable and sends it to the Supreme Court and there it takes its time, " said the lawyer.

The representative of Transparency International also recalled the amendment to the Public Procurement Law that, at first, disqualified companies involved in corruption cases, but now if they reach an effective collaboration agreement with the authorities they can do business with the government.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/transparency-international-condemns-moves-to-ease-penal-code

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PERFECT STORM: Failed lawyers,lazy mayor

Mayor Fabrega

Posted 30/07/2021

Recently, the president of the Supreme Court complained that lawyers seeking his suitability are failing in induction courses taught by the Superior Institute of the Judiciary of Panama. Of the almost 600 lawyers who took the seminar between January and May of this year, 50% failed, but - yes - all received their suitability. That is why it is not surprising that there are hundreds of complaints against justices of the peace in the capital district, accused, among other things, of arbitrariness and excess of duties. To examine and resolve these conflicts between citizens and judges, the mayor of the capital city, José Luis Fábrega, must appoint a commission for this purpose, but this official seems to be busy with matters more important than these minutiae, since the members of such commission have not been appointed, despite the fact that the Ministry of Government (Mingob) has requested it. Given the laziness that reigns in the Mayor's Office, the Mingob is preparing reforms to the law, to see if this will solve some issues, that is, to have more than a voice to solve these problems. Hopefully the mayor does not oppose this initiative, as he usually does. After all, you will get more of what you love: free time.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/perfect-storm-failed-lawyerslazy-mayor

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CORRUPTION changes  jackboots for collar and tie.

Posted 04/08/2021

Since its founding, La Prensa  promised to fight for freedom and against corruption. Today marks 41 years and the battles have been too many. Panama recovered its democracy but not decency. The corruption sponsored from the barracks moved to the Palace, and it reigns with the same impunity that it enjoyed under the protection of the rifles. Time does not seem to have passed, only the amounts. And justice remains the same, shameful accomplice of endless robbery. Corruption is the worst threat to our democracy today. Years of fighting, exiles, blood, and countless sacrifices seem to have fallen in vain, because civilians steal and lie with the same impunity that always protected the military and its circle of servitors. Corruption stopped wearing boots and now wears a collar and tie. And the lesson of these 41 years is that it does not matter if they wear olive green uniforms or designer clothes, our officials must be closely watched. And it is what La Prensa does every day, and will continue to do so, despite the threats, judicial harassment and attacks that they learned from the military.- LA PRENSA, Aug. 4.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/corruption-changes-jackboots-for-collar-and-tie

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Transparency International  condemns Panama government muzzling

The muzzlers

Posted 25/08/2021

The decision of the Government of Panama to restrict access to the minutes of the Cabinet Council (council of ministers) "exacerbates the crisis of public mistrust and is morally incorrect"  said the Panama Chapter of Transparency  International (TI) on  Tuesday, August 24.

The measure is “inconvenient”, especially because since March 2020 and due to the pandemic there is in Panama “a state of emergency due to emergency, decreed by the Executive itself” that exempts “itself from regular controls and accountability and proactive transparency, amid notable indications of acts of corruption by officials ” said  the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom – The Panama Chapter of TI  in a public statement on Resolution 71 of August 4, through which the Executive restricts access to the minutes and records of discussions in the Cabinet or Ministers Council.

The resolution, which came into force last Friday, declared "as restricted access information that corresponding to the minutes, notes, files and other records or records of the discussions or activities of the Cabinet Council, the president or vice president of the Republic .

The Presidency explained that the resolution, which has generated harsh criticism against the Government of Laurentino Cortizo, is based on article 14 of the current Transparency Law or Law 6 of 2002.

This law "exhaustively establishes a list of information considered to be of restricted access, empowering all institutions and organs of the State to declare it by means of a Resolution," according to official information.

The Panamanian Chapter of TI assured that since 2020 it has warned “the inconvenience of the exceptions in the transparency Law, of the 10-year (veto) extendable, and that the officials who guard the information can declare it restricted without further access ".

"We demand the immediate transparency of all documents related to public assets and resources of the State, in addition to once again urging the Comptroller General of the Republic and other control authorities to fulfill their role as a counterweight to the executive power," said TI.

The independent deputy Gabriel Silva presented in the National Assembly, with 71 seats and a large pro-government majority, a legislative project to reform the Transparency Law and annul the latest decree.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/transparency-international-condemns-panama-government-muzzling

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The painful reality of the Panama Legislature

Posted 26/08/2021

Yesterday, when the disaster that is our National Assembly (AN) in terms of transparency was disclosed, Deputy Raúl Pineda (PRD) made it clear to the face of the country that, indeed, the lack of accountability of the Legislature is not a perception but a shameful reality. Pineda almost went to blows with the independent Edison Broce, who asked for accounts on the programs of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Authority, at a time when its director supported his budget. Pineda absurdly described Broce's question as "discriminatory", preventing an answer. This kind of attitude reveals how reluctant politicians are to abide by the transparency rules that govern the public sector. That is why the AN ranks 10th out of 13 parliaments evaluated by Transparency International in the region. There were variables, such as regulations on transparency, the budget, and administrative management, in which the deputies were poorly evaluated, exposing the serious shortcomings of this body. It is worth wondering if such a bad appreciation matters to the deputies. We must not go far: the answer was given yesterday by Pineda. - LA PRENSA. Aug. 26.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/the-painful-reality-of-the-panama-legislature-1

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Panama’s National Assembly gets “F” in  transparency ranking

Olga de Obaldia

Posted 27/08/2021

Panama’s National Assembly ranked   10th of 13  regional parliaments evaluated for transparency by the Latin American Transparency Network reports by Olga de Obaldia, of  Fundación Libertad Ciudadana- the Panama chapter of Transparency International.

The measurement began with a forum held in January, and after five months of research, a validation period came where the results were shared with parliaments.

In the National Assembly of Panama, it was done through a note and access to the platform where the results were, which earned  a “no comments “  note from the former president of the legislative chamber

De Obaldia said that Panama obtained 35 points out of 100, with 0 being the most opaque and 100 the most transparent.

Among the aspects evaluated, four pillars stand out, one of these being the minimum laws that a parliament must have to guarantee a transparent administration and accountability of its deputies, where its result was 17.5%, one of the worst in percentage compared to other countries.

"When we compare it with the rest of the region, we are the country that has the least standards, within a list of at least 19 minimums that are considered so that a parliament can have a transparent management, " she said.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panamas-national-assembly-gets-f-in-transparency-ranking

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Corruption alive and well in Panama

osted 29/08/2021

At least 10 officials of the government of President of Cortizo, are under criminal investigations since the pandemic began in March 2020. On taking office Cortizo promised no one would be immune from the law.

One of the cases that caused the greatest outcry was the food bags scandal of the Panama Solidario program.

More than 500 bags destined for people affected by Covid-19 were found at the home of Julio Caballero, an official of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) in June. The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office charged Caballero, who had a monthly salary of $4000, Rodolfo Chamorro and Julio Palacios, also from the MOP, for alleged crimes against the public administration. The other involved is Juan Carlos Brin, coordinator of plans and programs of the Ministry of the Presidency.

The Public Ministry (MP) raided Caballero's house in San Francisco and carried out a visual inspection at the Ministry of the Presidency, led by Vice President José Gabriel Carrizo, head of Panamá Solidario.

Currently, none of them exercise public functions and have precautionary measures for periodic notification.

Shelter abuse
After a series of complaints of alleged physical, sexual and psychological abuse in shelters under the responsibility of the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family (Senniaf), the MP accused Michael Olson, former director of protection of the entity, last May, for alleged child abuse. His connection to the case is given by the work in the Senniaf when the current governor of the province of Panama, Carla García, served as deputy director of this entity. The case dates from mid-2020 and is related to the transfer of minors to the Vida Libre Refuge, which serves adults with drug addictions, one of whom would have sexually abused an adolescent.

When the Senniaf scandal broke and Cortizo appointed García governor, Olson went with her, as an advisor, with a salary of $2,800. The Public Ministry maintains the precautionary measures to prevent them from leaving the country and weekly notification.

Swabs scandal
One of the most recent scandals has been that of Leonardo Labrador and his wife Ana Lorena Chang, former National Chief of Epidemiology and former Regional Director of Public Health, respectively, at the Ministry of Health (Minsa).

Both were suspended after it became known that they are directors of the company A&L Medic, which under the commercial name Sermedic, swabbed travelers at the Amador dock, where ships bound for the islands of the Gulf of Panama are boarded.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has spent a week compiling information to support the commission of possible crimes, such as influence peddling or use of privileged information.

Taxi licenses
Another case under investigation that involves two officials is the sale of taxi operation certificates issued by the Transportation Authority (ATTT).

The former ATTT legal advisor, Rodolfo Mena,  and Dionisia Moreno, from the National Public Services Authority (ASEP), are being investigated.

In an accusation hearing, a court of guarantees ordered the preventive detention of both, as well as the separation of their positions. The MP links them to the alleged commission of crimes of corruption of public servants. They are accused of selling quotas between $4,000 and $12,000, each.

In July 2019, Rubiela Pitano, newly appointed general director of the National Secretariat for Disability, submitted her resignation after the MP requested a hearing on charges of alleged mishandling of payroll by the former deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, Rubén De León, between 2016 and 2017. The case was raised due to a complex cause and is still under investigation, due to the fact that judicial times were extended due to the pandemic.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/corruption-alive-and-well-in-panama