News
Tuesday 13th August 2024.
August 12, 2024
Starting next Monday, August 19, the Institute for the Training and Utilization of Human Resources (Ifarhu) will begin the payment process for various programs to more than 43 thousand primary, middle and high school students from private and public schools who have not received their scholarship and financial assistance benefits since 2023.
According to the press release, $20 million will be disbursed in checks that were issued by the previous administration and are about to expire this August, but that have not been delivered to the beneficiaries
The programs that will begin with these disbursements are: general competition; distinguished position; financial assistance for education, for students with disabilities, for the eradication of child labor, for sports and financial assistance for academic and cultural events.
For this payment, Ifarhu separated each of the schools according to the regional agency or direction to which the educational center belongs:
Payments for master’s degrees, period I and period II of 2024 and those pending payments for 2023, will also be made by check delivery and are scheduled for Monday, September 2 to Friday, September 13, 2024.
For the payment of the Universal Educational Social Assistance Program (Pase-U), financial assistance and scholarships processed in 2024, they are still waiting to be scheduled.
The government of Laurentino Cortizo Cohen spent much more than that of Juan Carlos Varela on economic aid and other educational programs of the Institute for the Training and Utilization of Human Resources (Ifarhu) , but benefited fewer people.
This is stated in the information revealed last week by the Presidency of the Republic, on the public funds provided by Ifarhu between 2014 and part of 2024.
During the Cortizo administration, which governed from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2024, Ifarhu provided aid and scholarships totaling $243.5 million , through 8,747 procedures (we do not list “people,” because occasionally a name appears on the list that is repeated twice).
However, during the Varela government (2014-2019), Ifarhu distributed $177.9 million , managed in 14,443 procedures .
In total, $421.4 million was delivered under both governments.
The information released by the Presidency also includes the period from January to June 2014, which corresponds to the last six months of Ricardo Martinelli ‘s government (2009-2014). During that period, Ifarhu spent $12.1 million on scholarships and grants.
The director of Ifarhu, Jaime Díaz , announced last week that the entity will also reveal the disbursements granted during the governments of Martín Torrijos (2004-2009) and Martinelli, with the names of the beneficiaries, the amount, the date, the career and the educational center chosen.
So far, it has been seen that among the beneficiaries are the relatives (mainly children) of deputies, directors, diplomats and other close associates of the political power in power, among others.
There is another nephew of former President Cortizo on the list of people who benefited from financial aid from Ifarhu.
In the information released, there is one amount that is repeated: $193,050. That is the exact amount that was given to 25 people to study at Midway University, a small, private Christian university in Kentucky, United States.
However, the largest amount of aid (510) was to study at Centennial College , a public educational center in Toronto, Canada.
The benefit was also granted to 156 students intending to study at Next International Business School , which is located in Spain.
Ifarhu also provided funding for 290 people to study at The Language Company in Oklahoma, United States, although this center has an important online study program .
A tender called on August 20 of last year by the National Lottery of Charity (LNB) was recently endorsed by the Comptroller, Gerardo Solís, despite the fact that the President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino , asked the outgoing government – last May, after being elected in the national elections of that same month – not to carry out tenders, since, otherwise, he would have to order their suspension.
However, Solís ignored the request and endorsed the LNB document on June 25.
This is a contract signed by the former director of the LNB, Gloriela Del Río, and the company Construiremos, SA, whose headquarters are located in the district of La Chorrera. The company was contracted for the design and development of plans and the remodeling of the kiosk in the Víctor Julio Gutiérrez square –where the LNB draws are held–, as well as the supply and installation of 60 glass and aluminum modules for use by ticket sellers.
The LNB and the company agreed on a price of $199,705 for the contract, with a duration of eight months – or 240 days –, from the order to proceed, which is unknown if it was issued after the endorsement.
Mulino was emphatic last May and in the following months when referring to the issue of the tenders that were being carried out at the last minute during the previous Government.
“It cannot be that they are going to leave us in a hurry… a path littered with things that are not a priority or with expenses that are not accounted for,” he said at the time.
A criminal complaint against the Comptroller General of the Republic, Gerardo Solís , for the alleged commission of the crimes of abuse of authority and failure to fulfill public duties was filed on the morning of Monday, August 12, before the Attorney General’s Office by the deputy of the Otro Camino Movement, Ernesto Cedeño . In the complaint filed in his personal capacity and as a public servant, Cedeño alleges that Comptroller Solís did not collaborate in the fight against crime by not submitting to the Public Prosecutor’s Office a series of audits that led to the closure of some criminal investigations and the closure of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The complaint also states that Solís failed to fulfill his duties as a public servant by failing to perform the acts inherent to his functions.
In most supermarket chains, grocery stores and neighborhood shops, the inventory of premium rice that receives a subsidy from the State and has a controlled price is scarce, while there is an abundance of special rice that is available at a higher cost.
This was detected by inspections carried out by officials from the Consumer Protection and Competition Authority (Acodeco) , which found that on average the presence of first-class or subsidized rice is only 7.29% of the inventory compared to 92.71% of the inventory of special rice.
The administrator of the organization, Ramón Abadi Balid , said in a press conference that it has been confirmed that there is a great distortion in the market that dates back several years, but mainly since 2022.
“In these investigations, we had not seen until 2022 that there was a distortion in the market, that there was a continuous shortage of first-class rice, which is the rice consumed by the majority of Panamanians,” he said. He revealed that since January 2022, the market has been distorted and the difference between one type of rice and another has widened in the establishments. “A shortage has been created in the market by rice producers, or sellers in this case, in which we have reached at this time the difference of 7.29% of presence of first-class rice versus 92.71% of special rice, which is the most expensive rice,” he indicated.
He also pointed out that second-rate rice is even more expensive than first-rate rice.
Abadi Balid said that all investigations will be passed on to the Executive Branch and specifically to the Ministry of Agricultural Development.
The Acodeco administrator pointed out that producers are paid a subsidy of 16 dollars per quintal.
“If you see, there was still a shortage of production. That means that you received the subsidy, but you were not supplying the market,” he added.
According to data from the Ministry of Agricultural Development, an average of $132.5 million is allocated annually to subsidize rice producers, which varies according to the price and the production cycle. In the 22-24 agricultural cycle, the payment of incentives reached $193 million, the ministry said.
The National Association of Rice Millers is expected to speak out on this issue on Tuesday.
The National College of Pharmacists presented President José Raúl Mulino with proposals to improve the health and social security system in Panama. The professional association, through its board of directors, sent a letter to the president on July 3, highlighting various proposals and concerns regarding the system.
Among the suggestions presented to the president, the president of the pharmaceutical union, Jaime Olive, informed Mulino about a draft of an executive decree related to the Health Compensation Chamber.
This draft was submitted at the time to the Ministry of Health (Minsa) and must remain in the office of the head of the entity.
This is a project that would coordinate all administrative, medical and infrastructural spheres to offer a better health response to all citizens, regardless of whether they are insured or not.
The union also expressed its opposition to the integration of the Social Security Fund (CSS) with health services.
In addition, the letter proposed the creation of a commission to evaluate the status of the pension program and improve the collection of the employer-employee contribution.
The incorporation of informal workers into the social security system was also proposed, suggesting a model in which the State subsidizes part of the employer-employee contribution and the informal worker covers the rest.
The union hopes that these considerations will be taken into account by President Mulino to strengthen the health and social security system for the benefit of all Panamanians.